The Federal Plan

for Meteorological Services

and Supporting Research

Fiscal Year 2017

OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL COORDINATOR

FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES OFCM AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH

FCM-P1-2016

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

A Half-Century of Multi-Agency Collaboration
THE FEDERAL COMMITTEE FOR

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH (FCMSSR)

DR. KATHRYN SULLIVAN, Chair

Department of Commerce

DR. TAMARA DICKINSON

Office of Science and Technology Policy

DR. SETH MEYER

Department of Agriculture

MR. MANSON K. BROWN

Department of Commerce

MR. EARL WYATT

Department of Defense

DR. GERALD GEERNAERT

Department of Energy

DR. REGINALD BROTHERS

Science and Technology Directorate

Department of Homeland Security

DR. DONALD CLINE

Department of the Interior

MR. KENNETH HODGKINS

Department of State

MR. BENJAMIN PAGE (Observer)

Office of Management and Budget

MR. JAMES ECK

Department of Transportation

MR. DAVID L. MILLER

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

MR. GEOFFREY YODER

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

DR. ROGER WAKIMOTO

National Science Foundation

MS. DANA SCHULZE

National Transportation Safety Board

MR. GLENN TRACY

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

DR. JENNIFER ORME-ZAVALETA

Environmental Protection Agency

DR. WILLIAM SCHULZ

Federal Coordinator for Meteorology

MR. MICHAEL BONADONNA, Secretariat

Office of the Federal Coordinator for

Meteorological Services and Supporting Research

THE INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH (ICMSSR)

MR. SCOTT LIVEZEY, Chair

United States Navy

Department of Defense

DR. WILLIAM SCHULZ, Vice-Chair

Federal Coordinator for Meteorology

MR. MARK BRUSBERG

Department of Agriculture

DR. LOUIS UCCELLINI

National Weather Service

Department of Commerce

MS. VANESSA GRIFFIN

NOAA Satellite and Information Service

Department of Commerce 

MR. CRAIG MCLEAN

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

Department of Commerce 

MR. RALPH STOFFLER

United States Air Force

Department of Defense

MR. RICKEY PETTY

Department of Energy

DR. VAUGHN STANDLEY

Department of Energy 

MR. JOEL WALL

Science and Technology Directorate

Department of Homeland Security

DR. RAYMOND SAUVAJOT

Department of the Interior

MR. JOHN VIMONT

Department of the Interior

MR. PAUL FONTAINE

Federal Aviation Administration

Department of Transportation

MR. MARK KEHRLI

Federal Highway Administration

Department of Transportation

DR. JONATHAN M. BERKSON

United States Coast Guard

Department of Homeland Security

MR. FARHAN AKHTAR

Department of State

MR. KENNETH HODGKINS

Department of State

DR. ROHIT MATHUR

Environmental Protection Agency

MR. CHRIS VAUGHN

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

DR. JACK KAYE

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

MR. STEVEN CLARKE

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

DR. PAUL B. SHEPSON

National Science Foundation

MR. DONALD E. EICK

National Transportation Safety Board

MR. SCOTT FLANDERS

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

MR. DAVID HERMRECK

Office of Science and Technology Policy

MR. MICHAEL CLARK (observer)

Office of Management and Budget

MR. MICHAEL BONADONNA, Secretariat

Office of the Federal Coordinator for

Meteorological Services and Supporting Research
The Federal Plan for 

Meteorological 

Services and 

Supporting Research

FISCAL YEAR 2017

FEDERAL COORDINATOR FOR METEOROLOGICAL 

SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH

Silver Spring Metro Center, Building 2 (SSMC 2)

1325 East West Highway, Suite 7130

Silver Spring, MD 20910

301.628.0112

FCM-P1-2016 Editor: Mr. Anthony Ramirez

September 2016 Assistant: Ms. Erin McNamara

Washington, D.C. Assistant: Mr. Kenneth Barnett

Preface

This year has seen several significant changes in OFCM’s approach to interagency coordination. For the first time in over a decade, the Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and 

Supporting Research (FCMSSR) held both of its expected semiannual meetings and the Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (ICMSSR) held 

all four quarterly meetings. This increased interest and participation in interagency coordination 

led to progress in several key areas, including:

• Integrating the Executive Steering group of the National Earth Systems Prediction Capability 

into the Federal meteorological services coordination structure.

• Establishing a team to improve the Federal Plan.

• Providing increased support to the Office of Science and Technology Policy in their efforts to 

coordinate space weather services and research.

• Culminating long term efforts to establish a back-up data pathway among the five Federal 

numerical weather and ocean modeling production centers, increasing the resilience of the 

Federal Weather Enterprise’s capability to provide this critical service.

• Coordinating disaster assessment and measurement efforts, exemplified in efforts following 

Hurricane Matthew and in executing Civil Air Patrol flights over severe-storm impacted areas 

and potential glacier dammed lake flood regions.

Regarding improvements to the Federal Plan, this edition of the Plan is likely to be the last in 

this format. We have begun an evaluation of both the requirement for this plan, and ways to 

make it more effectively support the coordination of meteorological services among our partner 

agencies. In the early part of 2017, we expect to have a blueprint for transforming this publication into two smaller, more useful parts. The first will be a strategic document outlining interagency goals for the coordination of key meteorological initiatives over the next several years. 

The second will be an annual report on progress made and planned toward those goals along 

with the budget information required by Public Law 87-843.

Finally, the interagency partners involved in the Tropical Cyclone Research and Operations Forum (TCORF) executed that event in a new panel-driven format in 2016, which increased stakeholder engagement and produced substantial action items. We continue to refine this new approach, and expect that the spring 2017 TCORF will be even more interactive and productive.

The coordination successes of the Federal Weather Enterprise result from the innovative and 

willing participation of the fifteen agencies and departments that provide, guide, fund, or rely on 

the world’s best meteorological services. The OFCM leadership and staff extend sincere thanks 

to the personnel of those agencies that contributed to this Plan and to our collective successes 

this year. With the help of the Federal meteorological community, we look forward to building 

together on our collective accomplishments in 2017.

Dr. William Schulz

Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services 

and Supporting Research

iv
v
Table of Contents

PREFACE..............................................................................................................iv

SECTION 1 AGENCY FUNDING FOR METEOROLOGICAL OPERATIONS AND 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH ................................................................................................... 1-1

Agency Budget Summaries.................................................................................................. 1-1

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE ................................................................................. 1-1

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE/NATIONAL OCEANIC AND AMOSPHERIC 

ADMINISTRATION............................................................................................................ 1-2

National Weather Service............................................................................................ 1-2

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services................................ 1-4

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ............................................................. 1-5

National Ocean Service............................................................................................... 1-6

Office of Marine and Aviation Operations .................................................................... 1-7

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.......................................................................................... 1-7

U.S. Air Force.............................................................................................................. 1-7

U.S. Army.................................................................................................................... 1-8

U.S. Navy .................................................................................................................. 1-10

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.................................................................. 1-13

U.S. Coast Guard ...................................................................................................... 1-13

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR................................................................................ 1-13

Bureau of Land Management .................................................................................... 1-13

National Park Service ................................................................................................ 1-14

U.S. Geological Survey ............................................................................................. 1-14

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION........................................................................ 1-15

Federal Aviation Administration ................................................................................. 1-15

Federal Highway Administration ................................................................................ 1-15

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ................................................................. 1-16

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION ...................................... 1-16

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION .................................................................... 1-18

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.......................................................................................... 1-19

DEPARTMENT OF STATE ............................................................................................. 1-20

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION........................................................................................ 1-20

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ............................................................................. 1-20

vi
BUDGET TABLES

Table 1 Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research Costs by Agency......... 1-22

Table 2 Operational Costs by Budget Category.......................................................... 1-23

Table 3 Supporting Research and Development Costs by Budget Category .............. 1-24

Service Category Definitions ...................................................................... 1-25

Table 4 Operational Costs by Service Category ......................................................... 1-27

Table 5 Supporting Research and Development Costs by Service Category.............. 1-27

Table 6 Personnel Supporting Meteorological Operations and Research ................... 1-28

Table 7 Interagency Fund Transfers ........................................................................... 1-28

Table 8 Facilities/Locations/Systems Taking Meteorological Observations................. 1-30

SECTION 2: FEDERAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH 

PROGRAMS ........................................................................................................................ 2-1

FEDERAL COORDINATION AND PLANNING FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH ................................................................................................... 2-3

STATUTORY BASIS FOR THE FEDERAL COORDINATION PROCESS......................... 2-3

OFCM COORDINATING INFRASTRUCTURE.................................................................. 2-4

OFCM HIGHLIGHTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 AND PLANS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017 . 2-5

Programs and Mission Areas ............................................................................................ 2-6

Next Generation Weather Radar Program................................................................... 2-6

Space Weather............................................................................................................ 2-6

Committees, Working Groups, and Joint Action Groups.................................................... 2-6

Joint Action Group for the Federal Plan Revision............................................. 2-6

Committee for Operational Processing Centers........................................................... 2-7

Working Group for Cooperative Support and Backup....................................... 2-7

Working Group for Observational Data ............................................................ 2-8

Working Group for Centralized Communications Management........................ 2-8

Committee for Operational Environmental Satellites.................................................... 2-8

Working Group for Hurricane and Winter Storms Operations and Research.... 2-9

Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather and Water 

Data................................................................................................................. 2-9

Joint Action Group for the COASTAL Act Post-Storm Analysis ..................... 2-10

Working Group for Volcanic Ash .................................................................... 2-10

Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion .......................................................... 2-11

Aviation Weather............................................................................................ 2-11

Committee for Observing Systems and Services....................................................... 2-11

Joint Action Group for Unmanned Aerial Systems.......................................... 2-12

Interdepartmental Weather Research Committee (IWRC) ......................................... 2-12

vii
Working Group for Tropical Cyclone Research .............................................. 2-12

Working Group for Meteorological Codes ...................................................... 2-13

Working Group for Multifunction Phased Array Radar.................................... 2-13

Committee for Climate Services ................................................................................ 2-13

OFCM External Coordination .......................................................................................... 2-14

Executive Office of the President............................................................................... 2-14

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) ..................................................... 2-14

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) .......................................... 2-14

NAS/NRC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate................................ 2-14

American Meteorological Society ................................................................... 2-14

FY 2015 OFCM PUBLICATIONS.................................................................................... 2-15

BASIC SERVICES................................................................................................................ 2-17

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES..................... 2-17

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................... 2-17

NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service .................... 2-20

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ....................................................... 2-25

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Basic Meteorological Services ........ 2-26

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.......................................... 2-27

Interagency Collaborative Research Programs and Projects..................................... 2-27

NOAA/National Weather Service/Environmental Modeling Center............................. 2-30

NOAA/ National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service ................... 2-31

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ............................................... 2-32

NASA Supporting Research for Basic Meteorological Services ................................. 2-40

National Science Foundation..................................................................................... 2-42

AGRICULTURAL AND LAND MANAGEMENT METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES.............. 2-43

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES..................... 2-43

Interagency Programs ............................................................................................... 2-43

U.S. Department of Agriculture.................................................................................. 2-43

Department of Interior................................................................................................ 2-48

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.......................................... 2-49

U.S. Department of Agriculture.................................................................................. 2-49

AVIATION SERVICES.......................................................................................................... 2-53

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES..................... 2-53

Interagency Collaborative Operational Products and Services .................................. 2-53

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................... 2-58

Federal Aviation Administration ................................................................................. 2-60

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.......................................... 2-72

viii
The National Airspace System of the Future ............................................................. 2-72

FAA Interagency Planning Office ................................................................... 2-73

FAA NextGen Office ...................................................................................... 2-73

FAA AWG and AWSD Roles in NextGen Transition....................................... 2-73

The NAS Infrastructure Portfolio .................................................................... 2-74

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................... 2-75

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ................................................ 2-76

Federal Aviation Administration ................................................................................. 2-77

CLIMATE SERVICES........................................................................................................... 2-85

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES..................... 2-85

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................... 2-85

NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center .......................................................... 2-86

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ....................................................... 2-88

United States Air Force ............................................................................................. 2-89

United States Navy.................................................................................................... 2-89

United States Geological Survey ............................................................................... 2-91

Department of State .................................................................................................. 2-91

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.......................................... 2-93

Interagency Collaborative Research Programs and Projects..................................... 2-93

NOAA/NESDIS.......................................................................................................... 2-94

National Centers for Environmental Information / Center for Coasts, Oceans, and

Geophysics.................................................................................................... 2-95

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ................................................ 2-97

NOAA/OAR Laboratories and Programs ........................................................ 2-98

Department of Agriculture........................................................................................ 2-104

United States Geological Survey ............................................................................ 2-105

National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................... 2-107

Department of Energy/Office of Science.................................................................. 2-111

National Science Foundation................................................................................... 2-112

EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND HOMELAND SECURITY SERVICES............................. 2-113

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES................... 2-113

Federal Emergency Management Agency............................................................... 2-113

Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center................................... 2-115

U.S. Coast Guard .................................................................................................... 2-116

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................. 2-117

NOAA/National Ocean Service................................................................................ 2-119

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ..................................................... 2-121

ix
United States Air Force ........................................................................................... 2-121

United States Navy.................................................................................................. 2-122

U.S. Marine Corps................................................................................................... 2-123

U.S. Geological Survey ........................................................................................... 2-124

Department of Energy ............................................................................................. 2-125

Nuclear Regulatory Commission ............................................................................. 2-126

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS........................................ 2-126

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research ............................................. 2-126

Department of Energy ............................................................................................. 2-128

Nuclear Regulatory Commission ............................................................................. 2-129

HYDROMETEOROLOGY AND WATER RESOURCES SERVICES .................................. 2-131

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES................... 2-131

Interagency Collaborative Programs and Products.................................................. 2-131

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................. 2-131

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations ..................................................... 2-135

U.S. Department of Agriculture................................................................................ 2-135

U.S Army Corps of Engineers.................................................................................. 2-137

U.S. Geological Survey ........................................................................................... 2-137

Nuclear Regulatory Commission ............................................................................. 2-138

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS........................................ 2-138

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research .............................................. 2-138

Department of Agriculture........................................................................................ 2-141

Nuclear Regulatory Commission ............................................................................. 2-141

MILITARY SERVICES........................................................................................................ 2-143

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES................... 2-143

U.S. Air Force.......................................................................................................... 2-143

U.S. Army................................................................................................................ 2-148

U.S. Navy ................................................................................................................ 2-151

U.S. Marine Corps................................................................................................... 2-159

U.S. Coast Guard .................................................................................................... 2-165

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS........................................ 2-165

Interagency Supporting Research Programs and Projects....................................... 2-165

U.S. Air Force Supporting Research Programs and Projects................................... 2-165

U.S. Army Supporting Research Programs and Projects......................................... 2-167

U.S. Navy Supporting Research Programs and Projects ......................................... 2-170

SPACE WEATHER SERVICES.......................................................................................... 2-173

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES................... 2-173

x
NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................. 2-173

U.S. Air Force.......................................................................................................... 2-174

U.S. Geological Survey ........................................................................................... 2-176

Federal Emergency Management Agency............................................................... 2-177

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS........................................ 2-177

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................. 2-177

U.S. Air Force.......................................................................................................... 2-178

U.S. Geological Survey ........................................................................................... 2-178

National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................... 2-179

Department of Energy ............................................................................................. 2-180

National Science Foundation................................................................................... 2-180

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES...................................................................... 2-181

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES................... 2-181

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................. 2-181

NOAA/National Ocean Service................................................................................ 2-183

U.S. Coast Guard .................................................................................................... 2-185

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS........................................ 2-186

DOT/Federal Highway Administration...................................................................... 2-186

DOT/Federal Railroad Administration ...................................................................... 2-190

NOAA/National Ocean Service................................................................................ 2-191

WILDLAND FIRE WEATHER SERVICES.......................................................................... 2-193

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES................... 2-193

Interagency Collaborative Programs and Products.................................................. 2-193

Fire Weather Services in the National Coordination Structure for Wildland Fire

Management ........................................................................................................... 2-193

NOAA/National Weather Service............................................................................. 2-195

USDA/U.S. Forest Service....................................................................................... 2-196

U.S. Geological Survey ........................................................................................... 2-197

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS........................................ 2-198

USDA/U.S. Forest Service....................................................................................... 2-198

National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................... 2-199

OTHER SPECIALIZED SERVICES.................................................................................... 2-203

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES................... 2-203

National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................... 2-203

U.S. Air Force Space Launch Support..................................................................... 2-206

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command................................................... 2-206

National Park Service/Fish and Wildfire Service ...................................................... 2-207

xi
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ............................................................................. 2-208

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS........................................ 2-209

U.S. Army................................................................................................................ 2-209

National Park Service .............................................................................................. 2-209

National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...................................................... 2-210

Environmental Protection Agency............................................................................ 2-211

APPENDIX A - ACRONYMS ..................................................................................................A-1

Inside Back Cover – Agency Points of Contact

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xiii
SECTION 1 

AGENCY FUNDING FOR 

METEOROLOGICAL OPERATIONS AND 

SUPPORTING RESEARCH 

1-1 

RESOURCE INFORMATION AND AGENCY PROGRAM UPDATES

The narratives and tables in this section summarize the budgetary information for the Federal 

government for fiscal years (FY) 2016 and 2017. A narrative outlook for FY 2018 is also provided where possible. The funds shown are used to provide meteorological services and associated supporting research with service improvements as their immediate objectives. Fiscal data 

are current as of the end of September 2016 and are subject to later changes. The data for FY 

2017 do not have legislative approval and do not constitute a commitment by the United States 

Government. The budget data are prepared in compliance with Section 304 of Public Law 87-

843, in which Congress directed that an annual horizontal budget be prepared for meteorological programs conducted by the Federal agencies.

AGENCY BUDGET SUMMARIES

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) budget request for FY 2017 is $82.2 million for operations 

and supporting research, a 0.2% increase from the FY 2016 funding level. The increase in funding is 

in the area of meteorological operations, offsetting a decline in supporting research and costs. USDA 

staffing levels dropped slightly, from 101 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees (including 8 contractors) to 99 (including 6 contractors). USDA has requested $61.4 million for research and development 

programs, a decrease of about $300,000 from 2016. For the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), funding for Weather and Climate from FY 2016 through FY 2017 President’s Budget remains constant at about $39 million in each year, which allowed for the completion of some interagency projects and initiation of joint research programs with a Weather and Climate component. A 

slight decrease is expected for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the USDA’s principal inhouse scientific research agency. ARS conducts research on how to cope with annual variations of 

weather on crop and animal production, ecosystem services, and the environmental and economic 

sustainability of agricultural enterprises. The research and development mission of the Forest Service 

is to develop and deliver knowledge and innovative technology to improve the health and use of the 

Nation’s forests and grasslands. Research at the Forest Service includes studies of the long-term effects of air pollution on forests and water resources. The Forest Service is also the world leader in developing emissions factors from fires and modeling its dispersion.
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

The FY 2017 amount requested for meteorological operations is $20.8 million, up about 2% from the 

$20.4 million funding level in FY 2016. Operational activities include specialized weather observing 

networks such as the SNOTEL (SNOw pack TELemetry) network operated by the Natural Resources 

Conservation Service (NRCS) Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting program (SSWSF) and 

the Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) network managed by the Forest Service. The 

SNOTEL and RAWS networks provide cooperative data for NOAA’s river forecast activities, irrigation 

water supply estimates, and Bureau of Land Management operations. The SSWSF program, managed by the NRCS National Water and Climate Center, provides western states and Alaska with information on future water supplies. The Forest Service uses meteorological data and interpretation 

skills data for decision making regarding wildland fire management. The meteorological staff of the 

Office of the Chief Economist’s World Agricultural Outlook Board (OCE/WAOB) routinely collects 

global weather data and agricultural information to assess the impact of growing season weather conditions on crops and livestock production prospects, keeping USDA commodity analysts, the Chief 

Economist, and the Secretary of Agriculture and top staff well informed of weather impacts on crops 

and livestock worldwide. The Risk Management Agency (RMA) provides administration and oversight 

of programs authorized under the Federal Crop Insurance Act. RMA’s Strategic Data Acquisition and 

Analyses (SDAA) unit works with Oregon State University’s Parameter-Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) Climate Group to develop and utilize spatial climate data sets to 

detect potential waste, fraud and abuse in the Federal crop insurance program and to assist underwriting in developing crop suitability mapping.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE/NATIONAL OCEANIC AND 

ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

National Weather Service

The National Weather Service (NWS) funding request for the FY 2017 President’s Budget totals $1.12 

billion and 4,549 FTEs. This is a 0.2% funding decease from the FY 2016 Enacted. NWS provides 

weather, water, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters, and ocean areas for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national 

economy 24 hours every day. NWS is the sole official and authoritative U.S. voice for issuing warnings during life-threatening weather situations. In FY 2018, NWS will continue to develop the next 

generation probabilistic hazard information paradigm, and a fully integrated field structure delivering 

consistent products and services. NWS will continue to sustain and enhance infrastructure for observations, facilities, and information technology.

Significant requested increases and decreases in funding over the FY 2016 program include the following:

• National Mesonet. NOAA requests a decrease of $11.5 million for a total $6.5 million. This request maintains support for the national Mesonet program. NOAA is using congressionally directed FY 2016 appropriations to continue to ingest data from mesonets, which can identify small 

scale features at the surface (such as changes in wind speed/direction, temperature, and pressure), each of which can indicate rapidly deteriorating weather conditions not shown by other observations.

• Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) Cyclical Refreshment. NOAA requests an increase of $5.1 million to fully fund the cyclical refreshment of AWIPS Information 

Technology hardware. This request restores the minimal funding levels for AWIPS IT cyclical replacement, including servers and workstations.

1-2 
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

• Establishment of Regional Enterprise Application Development and Integration Teams.

NOAA requests a decrease of $10.1 million for a total of $2.5 million to reflect the significant efficiencies that can be achieved by transition to a new information technology (IT) service delivery 

model for the NWS forecast offices. NWS will create regionalized IT collaboration teams enabling 

higher consistency of service delivery in support of NWS’ mission.

• Integrated Water Prediction (IWP): Driving Decisions for a Water-Prepared Nation. NOAA 

requests an increase of $9.7 million as part of a cross-line office initiative to improve water intelligence services to the Nation. The IWP initiative will result in a new generation of predictive forecasts that will help citizens prepare for and recover from flooding and drought. This work will result 

in a river forecast for 100 million Americans who do not currently receive one today. The request 

also includes computing resources to support the initiative.

• National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program Grants. NOAA requests a decrease of $6.0 million for a total of $8.7 million. This reduction eliminates NOAA’s partner funding for education and 

awareness grant programs through the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP). 

NOAA is not seeking to terminate NTHMP with this action. NOAA will continue to fund critical tsunami program components in order to ensure timely and accurate tsunami warnings, watches and 

advisories.

• Elimination of Redundant Regional Telecommunication Circuits. NOAA requests a decrease 

of $3.0 million to reflect the decommissioning of legacy NWS regional networks. 

• NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) Operations and Maintenance. NOAA requests an increase of 

$2.0 million to fully fund the operation and maintenance of the NWR network at minimum levels to 

operate all 1,029 current transmitter stations. NWR infrastructure reaches more than 98 percent of 

the Nation's population providing critical weather and other hazard information to the public.

• Shift R2O Toward An Integrated Approach. NOAA requests a decrease of $3.0 million to slow 

the development of the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP) and model coupling. NOAA will refocus its R2O efforts from separate global, regional and application specific modeling 

and forecast improvements to an integrated approach.

• COASTAL Act. NOAA requests a decrease of $4.6 million, eliminating current efforts for the development and implementation of the Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate 

Losses (COASTAL) Act of 2012. NWS will continue to make available its observational and model 

data related to land falling tropical cyclones in support of the COASTAL Act objectives.

• Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) Service Life Extension Program (SLEP).

NOAA requests an increase of $7.5 million to establish a SLEP for the aging ASOS, which serves 

as the Nation’s primary surface weather observing network. The ASOS SLEP is a cost effective 

approach to extending the life of the ASOS infrastructure and improving its reliability. In addition to 

extending its longevity, the ASOS SLEP will: enable high speed/high resolution data transmissions 

required for Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation Air Traffic System; provide greater 

safety, data consistency, and accuracy; and allow for remote and cost effective maintenance, logistics, and training. This is a multi-year effort that is planned for completion in 2024. Without this 

investment, ASOS availability will degrade rapidly beginning in 2017, causing data outages and 

regional gaps.

• Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) SLEP. NOAA requests an increase of $8.5 million 

for a total of $25.3 million to sustain the life of the aging NEXRAD Doppler weather radar infrastructure that underpins NWS severe weather forecasts and warnings. Without this investment, 

NEXRAD availability will begin degrading by 2020, resulting in radar outages and gaps, negatively 

impacting tornado and flash flood warnings.

• Reduce Research and Development High Performance Computing (HPC). NOAA requests a 

decrease of $2.0 million for HPC. At this level, NWS will sustain the dedicated Research and Development HPC resources for HFIP.

1-3 
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

• Re-architected NWS Telecommunications Gateway. NOAA requests a planned decrease of 

$7.6 million for a total of $3.2 million. This reduction reflects the completion of a re-architected 

NWS Telecommunications Gateway (NWSTG) at the dissemination IT infrastructure primary and 

backup sites in College Park, MD and Boulder, CO.

• Ground Readiness Project. NOAA requests a planned decrease of $3.5 million for a total of 

$16.1 million. This reduction reflects the completion of the NWS Ground Readiness Project, which 

will ensure utilization of the substantial increase in environmental satellite, radar, and model data 

to improve weather warning and forecasts.

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services

The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Services (NESDIS) funding request for 

the FY 2017 President’s Budget totals $2.3 billion and 889 FTE. This is a 2.0% decrease from the FY 

2016 Enacted. Looking into FY 2018, NESDIS will support key initiatives committed to providing realtime operations and data services as well as working toward developing the next generation of satellites to continue meeting its primary mission essential functions without incurring gaps in coverage.

NESDIS is responsible for managing all aspects of remotely gathered environmental data. This includes procurement, launch, operation, product development, and product distribution of the Nation’s 

civil operational environmental satellites and corresponding data. In addition, NESDIS manages the

NOAA environmental data collections, provides assessments that describe climate, and disseminates 

data and information to meet the needs of users in commerce, industry, agriculture, science, and engineering, as well as federal, state, and local governments. 

As authorized in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016, the management of the NOAA Central 

Library, as well as two regional libraries (Miami and Seattle), has shifted out of NESDIS and moved to 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). OAR is the largest user of the Central Library, and this 

transition allows the Central Library to continue to provide useful corporate services, and the regional 

libraries to streamline operations by co-locating management with the facility and customers it serves.

Significant requested increases and decreases in funding over the FY 2016 program include the following:

• NESDIS IT Security. NOAA requests an increase of $4.9 million for a total of $10.6 million to improve data flow resiliency across NOAA’s critical IT systems and infrastructure. This request is 

part of a cross line office initiative with NOAA’s Office of Chief Information Officer (OCIO).

• DSCOVR Operations. NOAA requests an increase of $0.8 million for a total of $1.4 million to 

support operations of the DSCOVR satellite.

• GOES-R. NESDIS requests an adjusted decrease of $85.1 million for a total of $752.8 million to 

continue satellite engineering development, production, integration, and launch activities for the 

four-satellite GOES-R Series Program to deliver required operational capabilities through 2036.

• Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). NOAA requests a decrease of $21.7 million for a total of 

$787.2 million for the JPSS. These funds will operate and sustain the Suomi National Polar Partnership satellite (S-NPP); launch and commission JPSS-1; continue development of the instruments and spacecraft for JPSS-2; and continue operations, maintenance and sustainment of the 

ground system for JPSS.

• Polar Follow On (PFO). NOAA requests an increase of $23.0 million for a total of $393.0 million 

to continue development activities in support of the PFO/JPSS-3 and PFO/JPSS-4 missions to 

ensure continuity of polar observations through 2038.

• Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR). NOAA requests an increase of $1.5 million for a 

total of $3.7 million to allow NOAA to better manage DSCOVR, which has experienced several 

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anomalies since July 2015, and ensure the satellite can continue to provide SWPC with solar wind 

data, the sole input for short term warnings of geomagnetic storms.

• Space Weather Follow On. NOAA requests an increase of $1.3 million for a total of $2.5 million 

to continue development of the Space Weather Follow On program. Based on the results of the 

FY 2016 Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) for critical space weather observations, FY 2017 funding 

will be used to select and initiate development of the selected options for solar wind data and the 

Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) imagery.

• COSMIC-2/Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS RO): GNSS RO 

Ground System. NOAA requests a planned decrease of $2.0 million for a total of $8.1 million to 

complete all IT security testing and verification in preparation of the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC-2) launches. Also, all University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) processing functions will be tested and certified for operations by National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The level of funding will support 

the complete operational testing and validation of the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models for COSMIC-2.

• COSMIC-2/GNSS RO: Polar Orbiting RO Data Set. NOAA requests an increase of $8.1 million 

for a total of $8.1 million to acquire GNSS RO data from the high inclination (polar) orbit. NOAA 

will continue to explore options to acquire GNSS RO data from the polar orbit. This will include 

evaluating a purchase of commercially available data as well as investigating launch vehicle options and sustaining the international partnership with Taiwan to support a NOAA-built second set 

of sensors.

• Satellite Ground Services (SGS). NOAA requests an increase of $4.5 million for a total of $57.3 

million for the planning, prototyping, and transitioning of the independent ground services into a 

unified set of common ground services for NOAA’s environmental satellite systems. Specifically, 

funds will support the deployment of the Enterprise Configuration Management Tool (ECMT). 

Funds will also be used to establish a Common Ground Services Requirements tracking system to 

enable SGS to identify capability gaps and opportunities to improve performance across the Integrated Ground Enterprise.

• Projects, Planning and Analysis (PPA). NOAA requests an increase of $8.3 million for a total of 

$33.5 million to allow NOAA to support the suite of U.S. instruments - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit – A (AMSU A) and Space Environment Monitor (SEM) - for flight on MetOp-C (launching in early 2019). The key activities include 

the delivery of the Space Environment Monitor (SEM) instrument to Europe for the thermal vacuum test, the return of SEM to the U.S. for recalibration, and the redelivery of SEM to Europe for reintegration on the MetOp-C spacecraft.

• Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP). NOAA requests an increase of $2.0 million for a total 

of $5.0 million to continue assessing the potential viability of using commercial data in NOAA’s 

weather modeling and forecasting through pilot purchases of commercial data.

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) request for funding related to meteorological 

supporting research in the FY 2017 President’s Budget totals $172.9 million, 416 FTE. This is a 5.9% 

increase over the FY 2016 Enacted. Looking into FY 2018, OAR will continue to provide the Nation 

with critical environmental information to support informed decision-making and promote healthy, productive, and resilient ecosystems, communities, and economies. OAR will continue research focused 

on improving our understanding and forecasting capabilities for atmospheric events that endanger 

lives and property and research focused on establishing a greater understanding of, and ability to 

predict, climate variability and change, and to enhance society’s ability to plan and respond. OAR also 

will conduct innovative research for the development of the next generation of products and services.

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• Climate Labs and Cooperative Institutes. NOAA requests a net increase of $ 10.5 million for a 

total of $70.9 million to support research activities that will help to gain a comprehensive understanding of the physical, chemical, and dynamical processes that shape our climate. NOAA will 

maintain and enhance NOAA’s six Atmospheric Baseline Observatories (ABO) in order to deliver 

policy-relevant data and information on greenhouse gas emissions and other critical atmospheric 

data. NOAA will improve support of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s (USGCRP) priority research areas, including providing focused research to understand and predict climate and 

weather extremes like drought. Finally NOAA will build upon its North American Carbon Observation and Analysis System (COAS) to establish a more robust network of sensors and carbon cycle 

modeling efforts to improve our understanding of the carbon cycle and the effect on the earth. 

OAR’s Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes are central to the effort of the climate research 

community to improve that understanding, to test our understanding through the development of 

state-of-the-art Earth System Models, and then to use those models to predict the future state of 

the climate. Observations of the Earth system and their analysis underpin the efforts that form the 

scientific basis for Climate Research.

• Weather and Air Chemistry Research (W&ACR). This sub-activity includes Laboratories and 

Cooperative Institutes (CIs) and Weather and Air Chemistry Research Programs. NOAA requests 

a net decrease of $5.8 million for a total of $101.9 million. This adjusted total funding would go to 

research and development on improving the detection and understanding of severe weather with 

a new airborne phased array radar; accelerating operational implementation of forecasting capabilities that will improve the accuracy of warnings, extend lead times, and enhance decision support services for high impact weather; and improving accuracy of weather outlooks out to three to 

four weeks (i.e., in the “mid-range”). OAR’s Weather and Air Chemistry Research supports Research and Development (R&D) that provides the Nation with more accurate and timely warnings 

and forecasts of high impact weather events and their broader impact on issues of societal concern such as weather and air quality; and supports research that provides the scientific basis for 

informed management decisions about weather, water, and air quality.

National Ocean Service

The National Ocean Service (NOS) request for funding related to meteorological supporting research 

in the FY 2017 President’s Budget totals $32.6 million with 120 FTE. This is a 3.0% increase over the 

FY 2016 Enacted. These funds allow for continued operation of the National Water Level Observation 

Network (NWLON), the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) program, the data 

quality control program known as the Continuous Operational Real-time Monitoring System 

(CORMS), and the Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Program (OSTEP), which is a development 

program for bringing new sensor technology into operations. Both the NWLON and PORTS® programs include subsets of operational water level stations with meteorological sensors installed for various partners and users, including the NWS. Looking into FY 2018, NOS will continue to provide meteorological observations that are critical to navigation activities and the safety of life and property.

Though traditionally an oceanographic observing system, NWLON/PORTS® technology allows multiple other sensors to be added, including meteorological sensors such as wind speed/direction/gusts, 

air temperature, relative humidity and barometric pressure. Additionally, NOS has eleven PORTS® 

stations with operational visibility sensors, in Mobile Bay, AL, San Francisco Bay, CA, Narragansett, 

RI, Northern Chesapeake Bay and Jacksonville, FL. Several more are being added on Narragansett 

Bay and on the northern Chesapeake Bay. These meteorological observations provide important data 

for improving and verifying marine weather forecasts and warnings. NOS has upgraded and enhanced the majority of its NWLON stations with new meteorological sensors. This increase in meteorological observations has led to a 10% increase in the probability of detection of marine weather 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

events and a ten minute increase in lead times for marine warnings, according to actual verification 

data for special marine warnings (WFO Sterling).

Navigation data users require a complete picture of their operating environment, which includes local 

meteorological data, to make safe and cost-effective decisions. Leveraging existing observing infrastructure is a cost-effective alternative to establishing new platforms to collect these data. The additional meteorological data improves the accuracy of NWS forecasts for storm surge, marine wind 

speed, and marine wave heights, used by both marine navigation and coastal communities when extreme weather events occur. The real-time data can be used by emergency responders to make 

sound decisions based upon the most up to date and accurate information. For example, when 

coastal areas are flooding, emergency responders must know which evacuation routes are still viable 

and other related information that most accurately reflects the current state of the physical environment.

Office of Marine and Aviation Operations

The FY 2017 President’s Budget requests $36.1 million and 121 FTE for the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) in funding to support meteorological operations and research activities. This 

is a 5.4% increase over the FY 2016 Enacted. OMAO supports meteorological operations and research activities by collection of related data from the aircraft and ship fleet. The fleet supports NOAA’s science, service, and stewardship mission. The fleet operates throughout the United States and 

around the world; on and over open oceans, mountains, coastal wetlands, and the Arctic. OMAO provides capable, mission-ready fleet providing professional crews to study global climate change and air 

quality, assess marine mammal populations, survey coastal erosion, investigate oil spills, conduct 

coastal mapping, survey snowpack levels for flood prediction, and improve hurricane prediction models. Looking into FY 2018, OMAO will continue to support meteorological observations through its Aircraft Operations PPA ($32.9 million) and Marine Operations and Maintenance PPA ($3.2 million). 

OMAO’s airplane and ships also help local decision makers respond to real-time meteorological 

events, including hurricane reconnaissance and research.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Air Force (USAF) resources for meteorological support fall into two primary categories: general 

operations (includes operations, maintenance, and procurement) and research. The total Air Force 

weather operations and research funding request for FY 2017 is $131.7 million, a 13.5% decrease 

from FY 2016, 2866 active duty military, 375 civilian, and 95 contractor personnel authorizations. 

There are no significant changes planned for FY 2018.

Operations

The USAF funds approximately 4,000 military and civilian weather authorizations across the Total 

Force, with approximately 3,300 in the active component, at more than 184 locations worldwide. Additional personnel specializing in communications, computer, information technology, program management, program analysis, administrative, and logistics specialists support the weather mission in 

the Air Force. Many of these weather authorizations are funded by missions and programs outside of 

weather-specific programs. These resources are dedicated to providing dedicated, tailored weather 

support to US Air Force/US Army forces and platforms performing contingency and non-contingency 

operations around the globe.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Programs with Research to Operations Efforts

As part of the Air Force Strategic Weather Modernization Plan, the USAF continues investing in modernized environmental prediction and commercial-off-the-shelf technologies that enhance automation 

and save resources. The USAF plans to invest in the following efforts:

• Weather Data Analysis (WDA). WDA provides a net-centric infrastructure that assimilates worldwide sources of atmospheric and space weather data and produces decision-quality information 

for warfighters across multiple security enclaves. This information is provided through both machine-to-machine and machine-to-human capabilities. Research, development, teset and evaluation activities will enhance the capability to ingest, process, store, access, and disseminate meteorological data via upgrades to the web services architecture to expand the Open Geospatial 

Consortium services and upgrade the large-scale data processing to accommodate new environmental satellite and numerical weather modeling data.

• Numerical Weather Modeling (NWM). NWM includes numerical weather prediction models; 

cloud analysis and forecasting models; land surface characterization models; aerosol, atmospheric constituent, and point analysis models/applications; and both global and mesoscale ensembles.

• Space Weather Analysis and Forecast System (SWAFS). SWAFS is the primary operational 

DoD source for space weather data, models, and products. SWAFS ingest and databases groundand space-based space weather data and employs models and applications to create and disseminate specified space weather analysis, warning, and forecast products for weather and space operations personnel.

• Weather Services – Live, Virtual, Constructive (WS-LVC). WS-LVC provides Air and Space 

Natural Environment data for DoD Modeling and Simulation applications, and integrates with Air 

Force and Army Live, Virtual, Constructive operational training systems to deliver a correlated and 

realistic natural environment with tailorable scenarios for specific warfighter effects. This program 

was previously called Environmental Data Cube Support System.

The goals of these efforts are to provide accurate, relevant, and timely meteorological intelligence to 

operators and warfighters at all levels of operations, within their decision cycle(s), and in a manner 

that facilitates exploitation of the current and forecasted environmental conditions.

U.S. Army

The U.S. Army (USA) estimates a $23.4 million request for FY 2017 including 45 Civilian, and 24 Contractor personnel authorizations. This request consists of $12.6 million for operational support and 

$10.8 million for research and development, an overall decrease of 1.7% from FY 2016.

Army monies for meteorology are spent on research and development related to the Army mission; 

the development, production, and maintenance of Army meteorological systems; staff meteorological 

functions at selected headquarters; and weather-related training at the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) schools and centers.

Headquarters, Department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2, employs two full-time meteorologists for the coordination of meteorological support within the Department of the Army and with 

other DoD and Federal Agencies and organizations, and the development of Department of the Army 

policy concerning weather, environmental services, and oceanographic support to the Army (not to 

include those environmental services functions assigned to the Corps of Engineers). The United 

States Air Force provides one full-time staff weather officer to serve as a liaison between the AF and 

the Army Staff. Forces Command, U.S. Army Europe, Eighth U.S. Army, U.S. Army Pacific, and U.S. 

Army South have Air Force Active Component, Reserve Component, civilian, or contract meteorologists who conduct meteorological staff services at these locations.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

TRADOC employs both Army and Air Force personnel to manage its meteorological-related activities.

As part of the TRADOC weather support structure, the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence 

(USAICoE) employs one full time meteorologist at TRADOC’s Army Weather Proponent Office (AWPO) to manage weather capabilities development efforts. Two AF specialists also instruct USAICoE’s 

combined Army/Air Force Battlefield Weather Course (4 weeks of instruction) held at Ft. Huachuca, 

AZ. TRADOC employs one meteorologist to oversee the Distributed Common Ground System-Army 

(DCGS-A) weather initiatives and objectives. DCGS-A is the Army’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance enterprise for the analysis and processing, exploitation, and dissemination of information and intelligence data, across all echelons. DCGS-A also leverages Air Force Weather Capabilities, integrates tailored weather information and products provided by the Air Force and disseminates 

to Army mission command.

The Army 2016 procurement funding is applied to the technical refresh of the fielded ruggedized laptops for Profiler Virtual Module (PVM) and the training and fielding of PVM version 1.0.0.4 to the Army. The Army 2015/2016 RDT&E funds are required for the development of PVM version 1.0.1 integrating changes to the weather model to use the Unified Model (UM) data and Gridded Binary v2 

(GRIB2). FY2017 procurement funding covers the training and fielding of PVM 1.0.1.0 and the completion of the ruggedized laptop fielding. The Army 2017 RDT&E funds begin development of PVM v2 

migrating to a service on the Command Post Computing Environment (CPCE) architecture within the 

Common Operating Environment (COE).

In its civil operational activities, the Corps of Engineers (COE) uses a network of approximately 

10,850 land-based gages. About 55 percent of these sites collect meteorological data, 35 percent collect a combination of hydrologic and meteorological data, and 10 percent collect hydrologic or water 

quality data. The meteorological gages commonly measure precipitation and temperature. All data are 

used in the regulation of COE dams and other water projects, for flood control, navigation, hydroelectric power, irrigation, water supply, water quality, and recreation. The COE funds or partially funds 

nearly half of all the gages it uses.

The COE funds NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS) to collect and maintain precipitation information from 876 meteorological sites. The COE funds the NWS for hydro-meteorological studies and 

funds the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for maintaining hydro-meteorological data collection services for 2479 sites. The rest of the sites are maintained by the COE. Services performed by USGS 

vary by site and by year, and can include site visits, maintenance of equipment, replacement of damaged equipment, field measurements for verification of data and continuous monitoring of data results. 

About 90 percent of all COE sites provide real-time data via satellite, microwaves, meterbursts, landlines, or radio. Data from COE gage sites are available to NWS, and to other federal, state and local 

agencies.

U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Pacific maintain a small budget to fund Army-owned automated 

weather-sensing systems within their respective areas of responsibility.

Estimated budgets for meteorological research remain relatively unchanged from FY 2016 to FY 

2017. Within the Army Materiel Command/Research Development & Engineering Command will continue research and development efforts in basic and applied atmospheric science. The Army Test and 

Evaluation Command (ATEC) meteorology program budget will continue to provide meteorological 

support to Army RDT&E ranges in FY 2016 and 2017. This budget increased in FY 2016 to support a 

single year life cycle replacement of large computer systems to operate the Four-Dimensional Weather (4DWX) weather modeling system. In FY 2017, this budget will return to a level required to provide 

baseline meteorological operations and support.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

U.S. Navy

The U.S. Navy FY 2017 budget request for meteorological programs is $ 117.1 million, made up of 

$ 91.5 million for operations and $ 25.6 million to support enabling research. These numbers reflect a

combined decrease from FY 2016 of 7.7%. Requested manpower authorizations include 415 Navy 

active duty, 370 Marine Corps active duty, 75 civilian personnel authorizations, and 18 contractors.

Naval Oceanography Program (NOP)

The Chief of Naval Operations, through the Oceanographer of the Navy, sponsors operational Navy 

Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) services and related research and development. The 

Oceanographer of the Navy serves as the Director of Oceanography, Space, and Maritime Domain 

Awareness for the Navy, within the Information Warfare Corps. the Chief of Naval Operations established the Information Dominance Type Command in 2014, renamed the Information Warfare Type 

Command (IFOR) in 2016. Resource Sponsor (OPNAV), Operational Commander (CNMOC), and 

IFOR work together to field capabilities.

The Navy sponsors programs in five closely related disciplines: meteorology, oceanography, space, 

maritime domain awareness, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). All are used to protect 

ships, aircraft, fighting personnel, other platforms (manned and unmanned), and shore establishments 

from adverse ocean and weather conditions, and to provide a decisive tactical or strategic edge by 

exploiting the physical environment to optimize the performance and efficiency of platforms, sensors, 

and weapons. Navy and Marine Corps METOC personnel provide for safe space, aviation, surface, 

and submerged movement, maneuver, and navigation in support of naval, joint, and combined forces, 

operating around the globe. This is done with a cadre of highly trained military and civilian personnel, 

educated in both sciences and warfighting services. By teaming with and leveraging the efforts of other agencies and activities, the NOP meets these challenges in a cost-effective manner, providing a full 

spectrum of products and services to provide decision makers in the field with environmental decision 

superiority while using only a small percentage of the Federal weather budget. Numerical Weather 

Prediction (NWP) comprising both model development and forecast skill are being pursued through 

the Earth System Prediction Capability (ESPC), discussed in the subsection of Military Services on 

Navy Products and Services.

Operations 

Naval METOC provides a wide array of essential tactical, operational, and strategic METOC products 

and global weather prediction services to operating forces afloat and ashore. These services include 

collecting and processing environmental data using resources such as oceanographic ships, aircraft, 

satellites, and computing systems. These products and services enhance the performance of active 

and passive sensor and weapon systems; optimize the effectiveness of the sea control mission for 

mine counter-measures; and identify the environmental effects that influence the performance of fixed 

and mobile warfare systems and tactics. General and tailored oceanographic, acoustic, and meteorological forecasts are provided daily to fleet commanders and individual operating units from the Meteorology and Oceanography Command's numerical modeling and forecasting centers and from forecasting support activities located worldwide. Funding primarily supports national security interests and 

also benefits maritime commerce. These on-scene capabilities are key elements for enabling the warfighters to take advantage of the natural environment as part of battlespace management. In addition 

to aviation and maritime METOC support, Navy and Marine Corps METOC teams provide a variety of 

unique services on demand, such as electro-optical, electro-magnetic, and acoustic propagation 

models and products, METOC-sensitive tactical decision aids, and global sea ice analyses and forecasts. 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Systems Acquisition. Naval METOC systems acquisition is accomplished through the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence and Space (C4I and Space) in San Diego, California. This funds new and replacement meteorological equipment for all Navy and Marine Corps Air Stations, all Navy ships, 

USMC Operational Forces units and other activities required to provide weather observations. Program also funds replacement of Survey Vessel shipboard mission equipment, deep and multibeam 

SONARs, Side Scan SONARs, Hydrographic Survey Launches, Ship Moving Vessel Profilers, Unmanned Gliders, and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. The Oceanographer of the Navy also delivered through its SCN, two T-AGOR research vessels, to be operated by civilian research institutions 

in coordination with the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS). A new Auxillary General Survey vessel (T-AGS) USNS MAURY was delivered in 2016.

Navy’s Earth System Prediction Capability (ESPC). The Navy’s Earth System Prediction Capability 

(ESPC) is a program to develop next generation environmental prediction employing emerging technologies in physical coupled prediction across the air-sea interface as well as to land, near space, sea 

ice, and other physical interactions. Additionally, ensemble-based probabilistic prediction for informed 

decision making is being addressed through common technology standards to develop an improved 

coupled weather, ice, and ocean prediction across multiple time scales from tactical to strategic.

Development of global coupled ensemble technologies will provide increased accuracy for lead times 

of 1-10 days as well as a new capability for accurate forecasts from the Tropics into the Arctic at tactical, operational, and strategic lead times. It will develop a Navy interface to NOAA’s products for seasonal to multi-annual lead times for deliberate planning through integrating atmosphere, ocean, ice, 

land and near-space forecast models into a seamless prediction system. This effort is the Navy contribution to a National ESPC for improved cross-Agency Research to Operations collaboration, for 

more accurate forecast systems and more efficient computational architectures.

The Navy’s ESPC will deliver capabilities, using advanced technologies to:

• Access predictive weather, EM spectrum and network models that are fully coupled with land, air, 

ocean, ice, and cyber models and incorporate ensembles, variable resolution, and confidence levels to produce 10-day weather and ocean forecasts as accurate as today’s 5-day forecast.

Communicate with Fleet or Joint systems to enable exploitation of the physical environment through 

the next generation of decision planning tools.

Electomagnetic Maneuver Warfare (EMW) Capabilities. The Navy relies heavily upon electromagnetic (EM) propagation to operate our communications systems and data transfer networks. The 

fleet’s weapons systems use radar, electro-optical and laser sensing systems. Naval Oceanography 

will thoroughly understand the atmosphere and its impacts upon all these systems so the U.S. Navy 

gains and maintains superiority in use of the electromagnetic spectrum. We will pursue three major 

goals:

• INFLUENCE development of the Navy’s electromagnetic maneuver warfare capabilities.

• IMPROVE Naval Oceanography’s environ-mental sensing and prediction capabilities.

• INTEGRATE EM environmental impacts into the Navy’s decision-making process.

Supporting Research

The total Navy budget request for meteorological-related research during FY 2017 is $25.6 million. As 

part of the Navy Information Warfare Strategy, the Navy continues investing in modernized environmental prediction and commercial-off-the-shelf technologies that enhance automation and save resources. Navy will transfer its meteorological-related research funding to the Office of Naval Research 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

(ONR) and also transfer the Information Technology Milestone Decision Authority to prioritize the 

funds to the Naval Space and Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) PMW 120.

Research and Development (R&D)

Naval METOC R&D is cooperatively sponsored by the Oceanographer/Navigator of the Navy and the 

Chief of Naval Research. This program enables the warfighter of the future to effectively carry out 

their mission by transitioning to operational use research performed by the Office of Naval Research. 

Both ONR and the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command are responsible for transitioning 

Naval research to operational use.

Naval R&D efforts have applications to meteorological, oceanographic, and/or tactical systems. The 

Navy’s tabulation of budget data includes R&D funding for basic research, applied research, demonstration and validation, and engineering and manufacturing development. Navy projects under sponsorship of the Oceanographer/Navigator of the Navy, transition from engineering development to operational naval systems. These efforts advance Naval METOC forecasting capabilities, communication enhancements, data compression techniques, to improve models and better predict METOC parameters in littoral regions. Our understanding of the impact these parameters have on sensors, 

weapons systems, and platforms is critical to mission success throughout the world. The Naval 

METOC community works closely with research developers and operational forces to ensure that naval and joint force commanders will always have the most accurate, timely, and geo-referenced 

METOC information available for successful operations.

Research and Development (R&D) FY-17 Outlook

At present we anticipate no significant budget changes in FY 2018. Focus areas have been defined, 

using annual Sponsor/TYCOM guidance, Science and Technology Objectives (STOs), TYCOM Integrated Prioritized Capability List(s) and other references to influence the scope and direction of future 

R&D projects as well as the Basic and Applied Research that underpins Battlespace Awareness and 

Information Dominance technological innovation and operational transitions. Three thrust areas for US 

Navy meteorological R&D through FY 2017 include:

1. Expand or Atmospheric Boundary Layer Sensing Capability/Capacity to fully support Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare (EMW). Exploit Through-the-Sensor (TSS) opportunities and develop, field and sustain dedicated platforms/sensors capable of sufficiently resolving boundary layer 

structure.

2. Develop, Field and Sustain an Organic/Afloat Nowcasting Capability to support continuity of operations in an A2/AD environment. This ‘Nowcast’ model must be developed and fielded to support multiple computing environments, e.g., shipboard (CANES) and expeditionary.

3. Develop, Field and Sustain the Next-Generation Coupled Global Model and Infrastructure for Assured and Authoritative Access to Observations, Forecasts, Products, and Services. Refer to this 

link for Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/

4. A new focus for Navy METOC R&D is to improve high-resolution and time sensitive 

ocean/atmosphere prediction capabilities. As noted in ""Winning the Airwaves": Regaining America's Dominance in the Electromagnetic Spectrum," will transition rapid environmental assessments capabilities to reinforce Carrier Strike and Amphibious Strike Groups. These tactical forecasts will combine real-time, on-scene observations with meteorological predictions made from 

sophisticated models to create a detailed and highly accurate physical battlespace. Higher vertical 

resolution in the surface and mixed layers will give forward deployed forces an operational and 

tactical advantage as they employ low power systems to conduct EMW operations.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Coast Guard

All of the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) funding for meteorological programs is for operations support. 

For FY 2017, the requested funding level is $30.1 million, a .3% increase from FY 2016, and 108 personnel authorizations (107 military and 1 Federal). The funding level for 2018 is not expected to 

change significantly. The Coast Guard does not have a specific program and budget for meteorology—all meteorological activities are accomplished as part of general operations. The USCG does not 

track meteorological costs at an organizational level, so the funding level is an estimate. The Coast 

Guard’s activities include the collection and dissemination of meteorological and iceberg warning information for the benefit of the marine community. The Coast Guard also collects coastal and marine 

observations from its shore stations and cutters and transmits these observations daily to the Navy’s 

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center and NOAA’s National Weather Service. 

These observations are used by both the Navy and NOAA in generating weather forecasts.

The Coast Guard also disseminates a variety of weather forecast products and warnings to the marine community via radio transmissions. Coast Guard shore stations often serve as sites for NWS automated coastal weather stations, and the National Data Buoy Center provides logistics support in 

deploying and maintaining NOAA offshore weather buoys from Coast Guard cutters. The International 

Ice Patrol conducts iceberg surveillance operations and provides warnings to mariners on the presence of icebergs in the North Atlantic shipping lanes. Coast Guard efforts in meteorological operations 

and services have not changed significantly during recent years.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requested funding for FY 2017 is $5 million, 41 FTE and 5 

contractors, which is a 3% increase in total funding allocated in FY 2016. The BLM funds two principal 

programs—the soil, water, and air (SWA) program and the fire weather activities of the Office of Fire 

and Aviation (OFA).

Soil Water and Air Program (SWA). The FY 2017 budget request for SWA meteorological operations is estimated at $1.7 million and includes 12 FTEs, a 9% increase from the 2016 estimate. The 

reduction accounts for a annual fluctuation in state’s priority-based project submissions. The FY 2017 

estimate includes $750,000 for labor and logistics to support climate and weather data collection efforts by BLM resource management staff, and approximately $606,000 for project implementation. 

Projects include 1) collection of meteorological data and operation of RAWS stations equipped with 

additional instruments to measure soil moisture and winter precipitation not required for fire monitoring, 2) maintenance of eight stations in the NRCS SCAN network, 3) operation of nine NADP sites, 

and 4) continued operation of a meteorological monitoring site at Inigok Station within the National 

Petroleum Reserve – Alaska. The SWA program initiates efforts to collect additional data through cooperative efforts with other agencies or with resource management staff in state and field offices when 

existing monitoring networks are not sufficient to meet the needs for air-resource-related information.

Fire and Aviation Directorate (FA). The FY 2017 FA budget request for meteorological operations is 

estimated at $3.3 million, 29 FTE and 5 contractors, unchanged from FY2016. This represents BLM 

support for meteorologists at the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) and Geographic 

Area Coordination Centers (GACCs) and BLM support of the Interagency Remote Automatic Weather 

Station (RAWS) network. An additional $1.1 million is recovered through reimbursable accounts with 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

non-Department of Interior (DOI) agencies for RAWS support. Funded activities related to the RAWS 

network include maintenance, travel, transportation, services, supplies, and equipment. Some agencies incur additional costs in support of the RAWS network through commercially contracted maintenance services. No change to the Soil Water and Air Management or Fire and Aviation Directorate 

program is anticipated in FY2018.

The interagency RAWS network is an important tool for wildland fire management which directly supports the protection of life and property. All affected Federal agencies within DOI participate in its acquisition, operation, and support. The BLM, in particular, has a lead role in the maintenance of the 

RAWS network, providing both data distribution services and equipment support. Participating agencies address common issues and coordinate efforts to ensure the collection of accurate and useful fire 

weather data.

Under the Predictive Services Program, meteorologists who specialize in fire weather services team 

with intelligence specialists and wildland fire analysts at the GACCs and the NICC to form Predictive 

Services units. The Predictive Services units act as centers of expertise to produce integrated planning and decision-support tools that enable more proactive, safe, and cost-effective fire management.

National Park Service

The National Park Service (NPS) FY 2017 budget request is approximately $3.2 million, reduced 

5.2% from FY 2016, 8 FTE and 3 contractors. The anticipated budget for FY 2018 will be flat or slightly reduced from FY 2017. The NPS expends about $0.9 million on atmospheric research with a focus 

on measurements of all forms of atmospheric reactive nitrogen and on aerosol science. The goal of 

this research is to identify the sources of air pollution that are affecting park ecosystems and visibility 

and to quantify their impacts. The NPS also expends approximately $2.3 million in routine air quality, 

visibility, and meteorological monitoring networks.

U.S. Geological Survey

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) requested funding for FY 2017 is estimated at $64.2 million and 

15 FTE, an increase of 3.6 percent from FY2016. This reflects funding requirements for the Geomagnetism Program, Hydrometeorological Data Collection and Distribution, and post-wildfire debris flow 

warning operations. No significant change is anticipated for FY 2018.

Geomagnetism Program. This request includes $3.598 million for magnetic observatory operations 

and monitoring and for research focused on ground-level hazards associated with variable spaceweather conditions. The FY 2017 increase is an increase of $1.7 million from FY2016 and will provide 

for enhanced monitoring of geomagnetic and electric-field activity at ground level, and establish a national project for mapping time-dependent geomagnetic hazards for assessing national space weather 

vulnerability and risk. 

Hydrometeorological Data Collection and Distribution and Post-wildfire debris flow warning 

operations. This FY2017 request includes $60.5 million for operation of the national Stream Gage 

Network, an estimated $500K increase over the FY2016 request, to include upgrades for evapotranspiration monitoring. Approximately $66K will fund post wildfire debris flow warning operations. The 

USGS’s Water Mission Area collects streamflow, precipitation, water quality, ground-water level, and 

other water resources and climatological data as part of a national network and for a number of projects concerning rainfall-runoff, water quality, and hydrologic processes. A number of federal, state, 

and local agencies contribute to the costs of collection and distribution of these data.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

For FY 2017, the FAA is requesting a total of $377 million, 331 FTEs and 1367 contractors for Aviation Weather related Operations Support, Major Systems Acquisition and Recurring Research and 

Development Cost. The FY 2017 plan is an approximate 2.4% increase from FY 2016 actual funding 

received. The actual funding for the Aviation Weather Programs in FY 2016 was $368 million. The 

changes are comprised of:

• A decrease in reported numbers for Operations Support from an actually received 

$296 million in FY 2016 to a requested $294 million in FY 2017.

• An increase in reported numbers for Major Systems Acquisitions from an actually received $53 

million in FY 2016 to a requested $61 million in FY 2017.

• An increase in reported numbers for recurring Research and Development Costs from an actually 

received $19 million in FY 2016 to a requested $22 million in FY 2017.

The funding changes reflect major initiatives in the Aviation Weather programs to support the Next 

Generation (NextGen) National Air Transportation System. These changes will bring enhancements, 

including the dissemination of weather products and decision-making information.

For FY 2017, we will continue to research and make progress in the weather area to support NextGen 

weather requirements. Research projects may include weather sensor/radar investment, weather 

needs in the flight deck and refresh of the weather infrastructure.

FY 2018 budget information is not yet available.

United States (U.S.) Code Title 49 Section 44720 (49 U.S.C. 44720) designates the FAA as the Meteorological Authority for domestic and international aviation weather services of the U.S. In this capacity, the FAA provides requirements for the administration of aviation weather services to the National Weather Service (NWS). The FAA is responsible for ensuring compliance with these services 

and with maintaining International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended 

Practices as specified in Annex 3-Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation.

Federal Highway Administration

The current transportation authorization, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, allocates funds for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and other highway research. Of this, for FY 

2017, the Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) has budgeted $0.5 million, 3 FTE, and 3 

contractors. All of RWMP’s funding is for applied research, though it is undergoing a shift in focus 

from applied research to knowledge and technology transfer to aid in the deployment of advanced solutions within an operating environment. The RWMP research activities involve the development, test 

and evaluation of decision support systems that integrate high-resolution road weather and connected 

vehicle data.

Outlook for Fiscal Year 2018 – it is anticipated that the RWMP will continue its current transition from 

a program that manages applied research projects to one that works with operating agencies to promote the deployment of the research solutions.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The anticipated funding level in FY 2017 for directed meteorological research is about $6.4 million and 

41 FTE, and 11 contractors, a 5% decrease from FY 2016. All of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) funding of meteorological and air quality programs is for supporting basic and applied research. No significant change is anticipated for FY 2018 at this time.

Continued attention is being paid to the effects of airborne toxins and fine particulate matter on human 

health, on the effect of climate change on air quality, and the impact of air pollution on human health 

and sensitive ecosystems. In addition, to promote excellence in environmental science and engineering, the EPA supports a national research grants program for investigator-initiated research. The funding for grants (with reliance on quality science and peer review) and for graduate fellowships (to support the education and careers of future scientists) will provide for a more balanced, long-term capital 

investment in improved environmental research and development. The funding for the grants program 

in FY 2017 is anticipated to be comparable to that in FY 2016.

The EPA’s Research Grants Program will fund research in areas, including ecological assessment, air 

quality, environmental fate and treatment of toxins and hazardous wastes, effects of global climate 

change on air quality, and exploratory research. The portion of these grants that will be awarded for 

meteorological research during FY 2017 cannot be foreseen, but it is probable that the grant awards 

will increase the base amount of $6.4 million listed above for directed meteorological research.

The EPA continues its development and evaluation of air quality models for air pollutants on all temporal and spatial scales as mandated by the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990. Research will focus 

on urban, mesoscale, regional, and multimedia models, which will be used to develop air pollution 

control policies, human and ecosystem exposure assessments, and air quality forecasts. There will be 

increased emphasis placed on meteorological research into global-to-regional-to-urban-local formation and intercontinental transport of air contaminants in support of the revisions to the National 

Ambient Air Quality Standards and ecosystem protection strategies. Increased efficiency of computation and interpretation of model results are being made possible by means of supercomputing and 

scientific visualization techniques.

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) estimated meteorological operations 

and research budget request for FY 2017 is $661.7 million 9 FTE and 9 Contractor authorizations. 

This request is an increase of approximately 1.6 percent from the FY 2016 budget of $651.4 million. 

The budget figures reported are based on relevant missions and programs in the Earth Science Division1 and the Heliophysics Division2 within the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), and the Human 

1 The Earth Science Division (ESD) reported budget includes an estimate of weather observations and research 

and closely related program activities. Research and satellite mission budgets are estimated proportionally to 

their overall contributions to activities reported, noting that the objective of ESD’s program is to advance Earth 

System science.

2 This report includes Heliophysics Division research assets and programs that contribute significantly to the advancement of space weather knowledge and to the transfer of that knowledge into space weather prediction 

systems.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD)3. Across the directorates, NASA estimates 

the extent to which each mission and program contributes and relates to meteorological operations 

and research activities.

For FY 2018, significant changes planned for NASA’s meteorological operations and research activities concern the Heliophysics Division’s phasing of development of the Solar Probe Plus and Solar 

Orbiter Collaboration missions, as well as HEOMD determining how to gain yearly efficiencies in International Space Station (ISS) operations in order to maintain a level budget throughout the remaining life of ISS.

NASA Earth Science advances understanding of the Earth system, its components and their interactions, its changes, and the consequences of these changes for life. The program pioneers the use of 

remote sensing data, primarily space-based, in new and innovative ways, and leverages NASA’s 

unique capabilities in global Earth observation. Earth Science Research sponsors basic disciplinary 

and interdisciplinary research, Earth system modeling efforts, the Airborne Science program (which 

provides access to aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems), and supercomputing efforts supporting a 

variety of research areas. Most of the funds of the Earth Science Research program budget are competitively awarded to investigators from NASA centers, academia, other government agencies, and 

the private sector. The program uses satellite and airborne measurements, coupled with cutting-edge 

analyses and numerical models, to turn observations into information and understanding.

NASA takes an organized approach to address complex, interdisciplinary Earth science problems, 

integrating science across the programmatic elements in pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of 

the Earth system. The resulting programmatic structure comprises six interdisciplinary and interrelated 

science focus areas. These areas are:

• Climate Variability and Change: Improve the ability to predict climate changes by better understanding the roles and interactions of oceans, atmosphere, land, and ice in the climate system;

• Atmospheric Composition: Advance the understanding of changes in the Earth’s radiation balance, air quality, and the ozone layer that result from changes in atmospheric composition;

• Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems: Detect and predict changes in Earth's ecological and chemical 

cycles, including land cover, biodiversity, and the global carbon;

• Water and Energy Cycle: Enable better assessment and management of water quality and quantity to accurately predict how the global water cycle evolves in response to climate change;

• Weather: Improve the capability to predict weather and extreme weather events; and

• Earth Surface and Interior: Characterize the dynamics of Earth’s surface and interior, improving 

the capability to assess and respond to natural hazards and extreme events.

NASA also supports space weather research through the Heliophysics Division within NASA’s SMD. 

The objective of the Heliophysics Division is to understand the Sun and its interactions with the Earth 

and the solar system, including space weather. To that end, the NASA Heliophysics program seeks to 

perform innovative space research missions to understand:

• What causes the Sun to vary?

• How do the geospace, planetary space environments and the heliosphere respond?

• What are the impacts on humanity?

3 The Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) reported budget includes an estimate of 

activities to measure and forecast atmospheric and space weather events that strongly impact all operational 

phases of the mission, as well as crew radiation exposure.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Heliophysics also seeks to enable research based on these missions and other sources to understand 

the connections among the Sun, Earth, and the solar system for science and to assure human safety 

and security both on Earth and as we explore beyond it. Heliophysics research provides a foundation 

to build predictive models of space weather events, mitigate the hazards posed to assets both in 

space and on the ground, and understand space weather impacts throughout the solar system.

In addition to research, NASA also engages in operations regarding atmospheric and space weather 

constraints within the HEOMD. The HEOMD objective is the safety of manned spacecraft, crew, satellites, scientific instruments, and launch vehicles. The greatest challenge is to accurately measure and 

forecast atmospheric and space weather events that strongly impact all operational phases of the 

mission (e.g., design, test, ground operations, launch, landing, and recovery), as well as crew radiation exposure at all phases of space flight (extra- and intra-vehicular activity).

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

For FY 2017, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) total planned contract expenditures of 

approximately $866,000 ($148,000 for operations and $718,000 for supporting research), a 53.7% 

decrease from FY 2016, and approximately 7 FTE are for meteorological operations and supporting 

research to continue:

• providing technical assistance for the analysis of atmospheric transport and dispersion for routine 

and postulated accidental releases from nuclear facilities, including updates to various atmospheric transport and dispersion models and codes

• conducting meteorological research in support of licensing activities, including additional consideration of site-specific probable maximum precipitation analysis related to hydrometeorology at certain facilities and consideration of winter precipitation analyses, in the case of roof loads for particular structures

• updating and preparing guidance on meteorological subjects pertaining to licensing actions

• reviews of proposed sites for possible construction of new nuclear power plants

• reviews of proposed meteorological parameters for submitted design certification applications

• reviews of meteorological parameters for operating facilities (reactors, production and utilization 

facilities, storage facilities)

The meteorological support program at the NRC includes analyzing and employing meteorological 

data in atmospheric transport and dispersion (ATD) models. These models provide an understanding 

of atmospheric release pathways near the release point and farther from the release point for building 

wake and dispersion characteristics. These ATD models are used to perform dose calculations from 

postulated releases into the environment. Meteorological information is used as input for the probabilistic safety assessment; the assessment of radiological impacts of routine, and unplanned, releases 

from normal operations, potential accidents, and actual accidents; the assessment of other (nonradiological) hazards (including rare external events such as extreme storms) that may impact safe 

operation of the facility; and the assessment of design or operational changes proposed for the facility.

Current and projected research activities include updating the methods used to estimate the effects of 

extreme precipitation events and developing an integrated approach for probabilistic flood hazard assessment (PFHA). Additional research is being initiated to address the influence of orographic features on extreme precipitation events and review climate science and modeling research to assess 

potential impacts on nuclear power plants. This work will continue as a priority into the coming fiscal 

year for those areas of the United States where new nuclear power plants are being proposed or 

where existing nuclear power plants are utilizing these concepts. The four key regulatory applications 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

to be focused on in research include support of new reactor licensing, operating reactor oversight process, risk-informed licensing actions, and future regulatory actions.

The nuclear power industry continues to operate existing facilities and pursue approval for new nuclear power plants. License amendments for existing plants and early site permit, combined license, and 

design certification applications for new plants have been received and are currently under review or 

have been approved by the NRC. These reviews consider safety aspects of each site by reviewing 

extreme climatic conditions for the site and their impact on plant design and operation. These reviews 

also consider environmental aspects of the plant’s impact on the surrounding environment. The environmental reviews for new plants are a part of the development of an environmental impact statement, which is required by the National Environmental Policy Act. In addition to its internal activities, 

the NRC seeks assistance from other Federal agencies to support its safety and environmental licensing actions.

In addition, as a result of the March 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami accident at the Fukushima Dia-ichi nuclear power plant, NRC licensees are updating the flooding hazards at their sites using updated information, methodologies, and regulatory guidance. The NRC staff, along with the support from its consultants, continues to review these flood hazard reevaluations. In some cases, NRC’s 

licensees chose to use site-specific probable maximum precipitation (PMP) estimates in lieu of the 

generalized PMP estimates provided in NOAA’s Hydrometeorological Reports (HMRs). As part of the 

review effort for these site-specific PMP estimates, the NRC is engaging with other federal agencies 

and experts in this field to observe how these analyses compare to NOAA’s existing HMRs and what 

acceptance criteria the NRC should apply to determine the acceptability of these methods.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

The Department of Energy (DOE) requested funding for FY 2017 is an estimated $4.45 million, an estimated 29% decrease in total funding allocated in FY 2016. DOE conducts Meteorological Services 

and Supporting Research activities in several DOE entities: Office of Science/CESD, National Nuclear 

Security Administration (NNSA) for Emergency and Space Weather operations, and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) for the Wind Forecasting Improvement Project in 

Complex Terrain (WFIP 2).

Office of Science/Climate and Environmental Services Division 

(CESD).

CESD focuses on a predictive, systems-level understanding of the fundamental science associated 

with climate change and DOE's environmental challenges; both are key to support the DOE science 

mission. As a basic science funding organization within the DOE Office of Science, CESD does not 

provide climate services to federal, state, and local agencies nor does it conduct research for the purpose of improved operations or climate services. Through its support for basic research, DOE CESD 

contributes to the fundamental understanding of the climate system. [See Table 1, page 46, Chapter 5 

Budget Information, FY 2014 – FY 2016 USGCRP Budget Crosscut by Agency, “The U.S. Global 

Change Research Program for Fiscal Year 2016”, A Supplement to the President’s Budget, of the 

“Our Changing Planet”, National Science Foundation Award No. NSFDACS13C1421.]

National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Office of Emergency Operations. The NNSA request for funding related to coordinating and supporting operational meteorological programs at Defense Nuclear Facilities (DNF) in the FY 2017 President’s Budget is $350K and one contractor authorization compared to FY 2016 funding of $250K, a 

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

40% increase. Requested FY 2017 funds would allow NNSA to continue funding the DOE Meteorological Coordinating Council (DMCC) activities, provide meteorological expertise, and provide Consequence Assessment Modeling tools in support of the NNSA Emergency Management and Response 

Enterprise. Funding for operational meteorological programs at DOE/NNSA Defense Nuclear Facilities is being researched and will be included in next year's Federal Plan.

Space Weather Services. The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration 

(DOE/NNSA) budget request for FY17 includes $2.5M supporting Space Weather Services, a decrease of 11% from FY 2016. The request includes continued support for exploiting space weather 

data from DOE/NNSA satellite-based particle sensors as well as space weather modeling research 

and development through DOE/NNSA’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program. 

The modeling R&D seeks to expand current magnetospheric models to the realm where they can be 

used to predict and assess impacts of extreme space weather events on terrestrial power grid infrastructure. The FY 2017 budget also supports university outreach activities fostering undergraduate, 

graduate, and postdoctoral talent in space weather science.

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Wind Forecasting Improvement Project in Complex Terrain (WFIP 2). The DOE-EERE request for 

funding related to meteorological supporting research for FY 2017 is $1.6M compared to $3.2M for 

FY2016, a 50% decrease. Requested FY 2017 funds would allow DOE-EERE to continue to fund the 

Wind Forecasting Improvement Project in Complex Terrain (WFIP 2). WFIP 2 will focus on improving 

the physical understanding of atmospheric processes in complex terrain impacting wind industry forecasts and incorporating the new understanding into the foundational weather forecasting models. No 

major changes are currently anticipated for FY 2018.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

The Department of State (DOS) request for funding related to meteorological services and supporting 

research in the FY 2017 President’s Budget is an estimated $2.8M, consistent with funds dispersed 

for FY 2016. Requested FY 2017 funds would allow DOS to continue to contribute funding for activities related to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an organization to assess scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its 

potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. This funding also supports DOS contributions to the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) 

programs. No significant funding changes are anticipated for FY 2018 at this time.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

Global Volcanism Program (GVP). The Smithsonian Institution requested funding for FY 2017 is an 

estimated $15K and 1 FTE to support the Natural History Museum, Global Volcanism Program. This 

represents a significant reduction from FY2016 levels, as the 6-year funding cycle that provided 

~$70K/year has ended, and the program is waiting to replace a position following a retirement in 

FY2016. The GVP collects, catalogs, and disseminates information on ~1,540 volcanoes active in the 

last 10,000 years with a small staff working regular business hours Monday to Friday in the Natural 

History Museum in Washington, D.C.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

The National Science Foundation (NSF) request for funding related to meteorological supporting research in the FY 2017 President’s Budget is $140.4 million, and 10 FTE, a 4.7% increase over FY 

2016. Requested FY 2017 funds would allow NSF to continue to fund research related to basic meteorology, climate, and space weather. NSF proposal requests are community-driven, which allows 

funding to move to emerging areas of interest. In addition, the funding would ensure that facilities, 

both observational and computational, are made available for community use. No major changes are 

currently anticipated for FY 2018.

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

BUDGET TABLES

Table 1: Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research Costs* 

by Agency

This table summarizes, by agency, both meteorological operations and supporting research costs. 

Funding levels for FY 2016 are congressionally appropriated funds. FY 2017 numbers indicate the

funding requested in the President’s FY 2017 budget. The change percentages between FY 2016 and 

FY 2017 are also shown.

Table 1: Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research Costs* by Agency, in Thousands of Dollars

*The FY 2016 funding reflects Congressionally appropriated funds; the FY 2017 funding reflects the 

amount requested in the President's FY 2017 budget submission to Congress.

% of % of % of % of

Operations FY17 Supporting Research FY17 Total FY16 FY17

AGENCY FY16 FY17 %CHG TOTAL FY16 FY17 %CHG TOTAL FY16 FY17 %CHG TOTAL TOTAL

Agriculture 20410 20853 2.2 0.5 61656 61364 -0.5 5.2 82066 82217 0.2 1.5 1.5

Commerce/NOAA(Subtot) 3491217 3434309 -1.6 83.1 213259 232524 9.0 19.6 3704476 3666833 -1.0 69.1 69.0

 NWS 1102036 1099429 -0.2 26.6 22113 22190 0.3 1.9 1124149 1121619 -0.2 21.0 21.1

 NESDIS 2325271 2269417 -2.4 54.9 26000 34270 31.8 2.9 2351271 2303687 -2.0 43.8 43.3

 OAR 0 0 0 0 163158 172858 5.9 14.6 163158 172858 5.9 3.0 3.3

 NOS 31617 32552 3.0 0.8 0 0 0 0 31617 32552 3.0 0.6 0.6

 OMAO 32293 32911 1.9 0.8 1988 3206 61.3 0.3 34281 36117 5.4 0.6 0.7

Defense(Subtot) 240707 215947 -10.3 5.2 62336 56370 -9.6 4.8 303043 272317 -10.1 5.7 5.1

 Air Force 122471 111774 -8.7 2.7 29826 19974 -33.0 1.7 152297 131748 -13.5 2.8 2.5

 Navy 105113 91538 -12.9 2.2 21742 25552 17.5 2.2 126855 117090 -7.7 2.4 2.2

 Army 13123 12635 -3.7 0.3 10768 10844 0.7 0.9 23891 23479 -1.7 0.4 0.4

Homeland Security (Subtot) 29970 30055 0.3 0.7 0 0 0 0 29970 30055 0.3 0.6 0.6

 USCG 29970 30055 0.3 0.7 0 0 0 0 29970 30055 0.3 0.6 0.6

Interior/BLM (Subtot) 68511 70018 2.2 1.7 1625 2286 40.7 0.2 70136 72304 3.1 1.3 1.4

 BLM 4860 5000 2.9 0.1 0 0 0 0 4860 5000 2.9 0.1 0.1

 NPS 2433 2300 -5.5 0.1 889 850 -4.4 0.1 3322 3150 -5.2 0.1 0.1

 USGS 61218 62718 2.5 1.5 736 1436 95.1 0.1 61954 64154 3.6 1.2 1.2

Transportation(Subtot) 348946 354761 1.7 8.6 21079 22538 6.9 1.9 370025 377299 2.0 6.9 7.1

 FAA 348946 354761 1.7 8.6 19079 22038 15.5 1.9 368025 376799 2.4 6.9 7.1

 FHWA 0 0 0 0 2000 500 -75.0 0.0 2000 500 -75.0 0.0 0.0

EPA 0 0 0 0 6690 6356 -5.0 0.5 6690 6356 -5.0 0.1 0.1

NASA 2013 2355 17.0 0.1 649376 659357 1.5 55.6 651389 661712 1.6 12.1 12.4

NRC 480 148 -69.2 0.0 1390 718 -48.3 0.1 1870 866 -53.7 0.0 0.0

DOE 531 600 13.0 0.0 5729 3850 -32.8 0.3 6260 4450 -28.9 0.1 0.1

DOS 2800 2800 0.0 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 2800 2800 0.0 0.1 0.1

Smithsonian 70 15 -78.6 0.0 0 0 0 0 70 15 -78.6 0.0 0.0

NSF 0 0 0 0 134100 140400 4.7 11.8 134100 140400 4.7 2.5 2.6

TOTAL 4205655 4131861 -1.8 100.0 1157240 1185763 2.5 100.0 5362895 5317624 -0.8 100.0 100.0

% of FY TOTAL 78.4% 77.7% 21.6% 22.3% 100.0% 100.0%

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Table 2: Operational Costs by Budget Category

This table describes the agency plans to obligate their funds for meteorological operations by budget 

category. The two major categories are Operations Support and Major Systems Acquisition. To a 

large degree, these categories correspond to non-hardware costs (Operations Support) and hardware 

costs (Systems Acquisition).

Table 2: Operational Costs by Budget Category (in Thousands of Dollars)

 Operations % of

 Support Total FY17

AGENCY FY16 FY17 FY16 FY17 FY16 FY17 %CHG TOTAL

Agriculture 20410 20853 0 0 20410 20853 2.2 0.5

Commerce/NOAA(Subtot) 1200867 1236474 2290350 2197835 3491217 3434309 -1.6 83.1

 NWS 975371 965294 126665 134135 1102036 1099429 -0.2 26.6

 NESDIS 161586 205717 2163685 2063700 2325271 2269417 -2.4 54.9

 OAR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 NOS 31617 32552 0 0 31617 32552 3.0 0.8

 OMAO 32293 32911 0 0 32293 32911 1.9 0.8

Defense(Subtot) 187178 174069 53529 41878 240707 215947 -10.3 5.2

 Air Force 92190 80742 30281 31032 122471 111774 -8.7 2.7

 Navy 83377 81599 21736 9939 105113 91538 -12.9 2.2

 Army 11611 11728 1512 907 13123 12635 -3.7 0.3

Homeland Security (Subtot) 29970 30055 0 0 29970 30055 0.3 0.7

 USCG 29970 30055 0 0 29970 30055 0.3 0.7

Interior/BLM 68511 70018 0 0 68511 70018 2.2 1.7

 BLM (Subtot) 4860 5000 0 0 4860 5000 2.9 0.1

 SWA 1560 1700 0 0 1560 1700 9.0 0.0

 OFA 3300 3300 0 0 3300 3300 0.0 0.1

 NPS 2433 2300 0 0 2433 2300 -5.5 0.1

 USGS 61218 62718 0 0 61218 62718 2.5 1.5

Transportation(Subtot) 295946 294201 53000 60560 348946 354761 1.7 8.6

 FAA 295946 294201 53000 60560 348946 354761 1.7 8.6

 FHWA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

EPA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

NASA 2013 2355 0 2013 2355 17.0 0.1

NRC 480 148 0 0 480 148 -69.2 0.0

DOE 531 600 0 0 531 600 13.0 0.0

DOS 2800 2800 0 0 2800 2800 0.0 0.1

Smithsonian 70 15 0 0 70 15 -78.6 0.0

NSF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TOTAL 1808776 1831588 2396879 2300273 4205655 4131861 -1.8 100.0

% of FY TOTAL 43.0% 44.3% 57.0% 55.7% 100.0% 100.0%

Major Systems

Acquisition

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Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Table 3: Supporting Research and Development Costs by Budget 

Category

This table describes the agency plans to obligate their funds for meteorological supporting research 

and Development by budget category. Similar to operational funding in table 2, these categories are 

Research and Development (non-hardware) and Systems Development (hardware).

Table 3: Supporting Research and Development Costs by Budget Category (in Thousands of Dollars)

% of

 Total FY17

AGENCY FY16 FY17 FY16 FY17 FY16 FY17 %CHG TOTAL

Agriculture 61656 61364 0 0 61656 61364 -0.5 5.2

Commerce/NOAA(Subtot) 211389 230654 1870 1870 213259 232524 9.0 19.6

 NWS 22113 22190 0 0 22113 22190 0.3 1.9

 NESDIS 26000 34270 0 0 26000 34270 31.8 2.9

 OAR 161288 170988 1870 1870 163158 172858 5.9 14.6

 NOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 OMAO 1988 3206 0 0 1988 3206 61.3 0.3

Defense(Subtot) 30962 35093 31374 21277 62336 56370 -9.6 4.8

 Air Force 0 0 29826 19974 29826 19974 -33.0 1.7

 Navy 21742 25552 0 0 21742 25552 17.5 2.2

 Army 9220 9541 1548 1303 10768 10844 0.7 0.9

Homeland Security (Subtot) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 USCG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Interior/BLM 1625 2286 0 0 1625 2286 40.7 0.2

 BLM (Subtot) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 SWA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 OFA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 NPS 889 850 0 0 889 850 -4.4 0.1

 USGS 736 1436 0 0 736 1436 95.1 0.1

Transportation(Subtot) 21079 22538 0 0 21079 22538 6.9 1.9

 FAA 19079 22038 0 0 19079 22038 15.5 1.9

 FHWA 2000 500 0 0 2000 500 -75.0 0.0

EPA 6690 6356 0 0 6690 6356 -5.0 0.5

NASA 153454 185976 495922 473381 649376 659357 1.5 55.6

NRC 1390 718 0 0 1390 718 -48.3 0.1

DOE 5729 3850 0 0 5729 3850 -32.8 0.3

DOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Smithsonian 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

NSF 134100 140400 0 0 134100 140400 4.7 11.8

TOTAL 628074 689235 529166 496528 1157240 1185763 2.5 100.0

% of FY TOTAL 54.3% 58.1% 45.7% 41.9% 100.0% 100.0%

Recurring

R&D Costs

Systems

Development

1-24
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Tables 4 and 5: Operational Costs and Supporting Research Costs 

by Service Category

These tables indicate how the funds identified in Tables 2 and 3 are divided among the eleven service 

categories. Table 4 reflects how the agencies plan to obligate operational funds and Table 5 supporting research funds. The service categories evolve over time, as applications change with technology 

and with societal needs. The service category definitions are described below:

Service Category Definitions

Basic Services. Basic services include the basic meteorological service system, to include observations, public weather forecasts, severe weather warnings and advisories, and the meteorological satellite activities of NOAA. Basic services also include the operations and supporting research of other 

Federal agencies that have been identified as contributing to basic meteorological services.

Agriculture and Land Management Meteorological Services. Agricultural and land management 

meteorological services are those services and facilities established to meet the requirements of the 

agricultural industries and Federal, state, and local agencies charged with the protection and maintenance of the Nation's land areas. Meteorological services specifically tailored for wildland fire management are reported under the wildland fire weather service category.

Aviation Services. Aviation services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the requirements of general, commercial, and military aviation. Civil programs that 

are directly related to services solely for aviation and military programs in support of land-based aviation and medium- or long-range missile operations are included. Detailed aviation services/products 

for specific areas include, but are not limited to, ceiling and visibility, convective hazards, en route 

winds and temperatures, ground de-icing, in-flight icing, terminal winds and temperatures, turbulence, 

volcanic ash, and other airborne hazardous materials.

Climate Services. Climate services are specialized meteorological and hydrological services established to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local agencies for information on the historical, 

current, and future state of the earth system. Climate services include observations, monitoring, assessments, predictions, and projections of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and land surface systems.

Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services. Emergency response and homeland security services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local agencies responding to natural disasters and security incidents. This category includes the use of atmospheric transport and dispersion (ATD) models for predicting the dispersion of airborne toxic substances; it also includes natural disaster monitoring and 

prediction services and the transport of water-borne toxic substances not included in basic services.

Hydrometeorology and Water Resources Services. Hydrometeorology and water resources services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities that combine atmospheric science, 

hydrology, and water resources in order to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local agencies for information on the effects of precipitation events on infrastructure, water supplies, and waterways. These products and services also meet the needs of the general public in the conduct of everyday activities and for the protection of lives and property.

Military Services. Military services are those meteorological operations, services, and capabilities 

established to meet the unique requirements of military user commands and their component elements. Programs and services that are not uniquely military in nature are reported under another service category (e.g., Basic Services, Aviation Services [civilian], Surface transportation Services, or 

Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services).

1-25
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Space Weather Services. Space Weather Services are those specialized meteorological services 

and facilities established to meet the needs of users for information on space weather conditions and 

space weather storms that can affect terrestrial systems, space systems, Earth’s atmosphere, and the 

space environment. Space weather services include monitoring and alerting of space weather storms 

and their effects on technological infrastructure and human safety. Early warning of an approaching 

space weather storm, so that timely protective response is possible, is an important part of space 

weather services.

Surface Transportation. Surface transportation services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the weather information needs of the following surface transportation sectors: roadways, long-haul railways, the marine transportation system, rural and urban 

transit, pipeline systems, and airport ground operations. The roadway sector includes state and Federal highways and all state and local roads and streets. The marine transportation system includes 

coastal and inland waterways, ports and harbors, and the intermodal terminals serving them. Rural 

and urban transit includes bus and van service on roadways and rail lines for metropolitan subway 

and surface “light-rail” systems.

Wildland Fire Weather Services. Wildland fire weather services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the requirements of the wildfire management community 

at the Federal, state, tribal, and local levels. The primary areas of service are to support the reduction 

of wildfire initiation potential and the mitigation of both human and environmental impacts once initiation does occur. Services can include support to first responders and land managers and climate services tailored to wildland fire management.

Other Specialized Services. Other specialized services include weather and climate information services and facilities established to meet the special needs of user agencies or constituencies not included in basic services or the preceding service categories. This service category includes any efforts to integrate the social sciences into meteorological operations, applications, and services not already described in the preceding sections.

1-26
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

1-27
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Table 6: Personnel Supporting Meteorological Operations and 

Research

This table includes both current and FY 2017 requested personnel (Federal (FTE), Contractor, Military) required to perform or support meteorological operations and supporting research. The total federal agency staffing requested for FY 2016 is 13,839. 

Table 6: Personnel Supporting Meteorological Operations and Research (Full Time Equivalent Staff Years, 

Contractors, and Military)

* Active Duty (does not include National Guard or Reserve)

**all research

Table 7: Interagency Fund Transfers

This table summarizes the reimbursement of funds from one agency to another during FY 2015. 

Agencies routinely enter into reimbursable agreements when they determine an agency can provide a 

given activity more cost-effectively. While specific activities and amounts may vary from year-to-year, 

the pattern reflects a significant level of interagency cooperation.

Agency Federal Contractor Military*

Current 

FY 2016 Federal Contractor Military*

Requested 

FY 2017 %CHG

% of FY 17 

TOTAL

Agriculture 93 8 0 101 93 6 0 99 -2.0 0.7

Commerce/NOAA Subtotal 6174 2415 0 8589 6095 2332 0 8427 -1.9 57.1

 NWS 4638 793 0 5431 4549 801 0 5350 -1.5 36.2

 NESDIS 887 1351 0 2238 889 1260 0 2149 -4.0 14.6

 OAR** 413 201 0 614 416 201 0 617 0.5 4.2

 NOS 115 70 0 185 120 70 0 190 2.7 1.3

 OMAO 121 0 0 121 121 0 0 121 0.0 0.8

Defense Subtotal 495 133 3707 4335 495 137 3651 4283 -1.2 29.0

 Air Force 375 95 2922 3392 375 95 2866 3336 -1.7 22.6

 Navy 75 18 415 508 75 18 415 508 0.0 3.4

 Marine Corps 0 0 370 370 0 0 370 370 0.0 2.5

 Army 45 20 0 65 45 24 0 69 6.2 0.5

Homeland Security-USCG 1 0 107 108 1 0 107 108 0.0 0.7

Interior/BLM Subtotal 49 8 0 57 49 8 0 57 0.0 0.4

 BLM Soil/Water/Air Program 12 0 0 12 12 0 0 12 0.0 0.1

 BLM Fire Weather Program 29 5 0 34 29 5 0 34 0.0 0.2

 NPS 8 3 0 11 8 3 0 11 0.0 0.1

 USGS 12 0 0 12 15 0 0 15 25.0 0.1

Transportation Subtotal 334 1366 0 1700 334 1370 0 1704 0.2 11.5

 FHWA 3 3 0 6 3 3 0 6 0.0 0.0

 FAA 331 1363 0 1694 331 1367 0 1698 0.2 11.5

EPA 43 12 0 55 41 11 0 52 -5.5 0.4

NASA 9 8 0 17 9 9 0 18 5.9 0.1

NRC 7 0 0 7 7 0 0 7 0.0 0.0

DOE 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 100.0 0.0

DOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Smithsonian 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 -50.0 0.0

NSF 10 0 0 10 10 0 0 10 0.0 0.1

Totals 14982 14768 -1.4 100.0

1-28
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Supporting

Transferred from: To: Operations Research

DOC/NOAA

NESDIS NIST 0 8

NESDIS NSF 206 0

NESDIS NASA 611543 2

NESDIS DOD 7270 0

NESDIS DOI 50 0

NESDIS NTIA 5712 0

NWS USDA 0 0 NRCS deleted

OAR DOE 0 4076

OAR USDA 0 231

DHS

USFA DOI/BLM-FA 42 Lightning

USFA DOI/BLM-FA 83 RAWS program support

FEMA DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI 100

USDA

USDA/USFS DOI/BLM-FA 660 RAWS maintenance contracts

USDA/USFS DOI/BLM 34 Lightning

USDA/NRCS USDA/USFS 53 Snow Survey support

USDA/NRCS DOI 147 Snow Survey support

USDA/NRCS DOI/NPS 5 Snow Survey support

DOD

Air Force DOC/NOAA/NWS 7109 804

Air Force DOC/OFCM 145

Air Force DOI/USGS 432

Air Force NASA 380

Air Force NSF/UCAR/NCAR 299 1554

Air Force USARL 98

Air Force NAVSUP 20

Navy DOC/NOAA/OAR 0 0

Army OFCM

USACE NOAA/NWS 202

USACE DOI/USGS 20774

USACE USDA NRCS-Snow Surveys

USACE DOC/NOAA/OAR

DOD DOI/BLM OFA

DOI

USGS DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI 0 3.5

USGS DOC/NOAA/NESDIS 390

DOI/BLM DOC/NOAA/NESDIS 15

DOI/BLM SWA USDA-NIFA 62

DOI/BLM SWA USDA 50 NRCS

USGS DOC/NOAA/OAR 100

DOI/NPS USDA 55 NRCS

DOI/NPS USDA 391 National Atmospheric Deposition Program

DOI/NPS EPA 256 CASTNet Filter Pack Analysis

DOI/BOR USDA 19 NRCS

DOI/NPS EPA 288

CASTNet Filter Pack 

Analysis

DOI/BOR USDA NRCS

DOI DOC/NOAA/OAR 35

DOI/BLM SWA USDA-NIFA 62

DOI/BLM SWA USDA 50 NRCS

DOT

FAA Weather DOC/NOAA/NWS 17181

IAA-Center Weather 

Service Unit

FAA Weather DOC/NOAA/NWS 15973 IAA

NASA

DOD/USAF/45th Space Wing 830 0

DOE DOC/NOAA/OAR 800 WFIP

State/Local USDA 102 NRCS

DOI/BLM-FA 304 RAWS maintenance contracts

FY2016 Funds ($K) Estimated or Planned

1-29
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Table 8: Facilities/Locations/Systems Taking Meteorological 

Observations

This table shows the number of facilities/locations/systems at which the Federal agencies carry out or 

oversee the taking of various types of meteorological observations.

Table 8a: Surface, Land Observations

Agency No. of 2016 Sites Notes

Commerce (NOAA/NWS all types) 29012 ASOS, COOP, MESONET

Commerce (NOAA/OAR manned Atmospheric Baseline Observations) 6 

Commerce (NOAA/OAR Climate Reference Network) 114

Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Mesonest 

Commerce (NOAA/NWS/INL Mesonet) 35 used by Pocatello Weather Service Forecast 

Office. 35 according to the NOSC.

Commerce (NOAA/NWS Weather Monitoring Stations) 16

Commerce (NOAA/OAR/ARL SORD Mesonet) 22 Special Operations And Research Division 

(SORD) 

Energy (DNF Automated NARAC Towers) 97

Air Force (U.S. & Overseas) 219

Navy (U.S. & Overseas) 68

Marine Corps (U.S. & Overseas) 24

Army (U.S. & Overseas) 8

Transportation (FAA Contract Weather Observers 

(CWO)* 135

Transportation (FAA Auto Wx Obsg Stn - AWOS)** 22

Transportation (FAA Weather Systems - WARP) 21

Transportation (FAA ASOS/ALDARS) 571

Transportation (FAA Flight Service Stations in Alaska)*** 18

Transportation (FAA Alaska Weather Cameras) 228

Transportation (FAA Flight Service - OASIS) 3

Transportation (FAA CIWS) 9

Transportation (FAA Weather Systems - ITWS) 34

Transportation (FAA Weather Systems - LIDAR) 2

Transportation (FHWA-Road Wx Obsg Stn) 2473

Homeland Security (USCG Coastal) 50

Interior (NPS Air Program) 32

Interior (BLM Soil/Water/Air Program) 481

Interior (BLM Office of Fire and Aviation) 971

Interior (USGS Geomagnetic Program) 14

1-30
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Agency No. of 2016 Sites Notes

Agriculture (NRCS active manual snow courses) 1340

Agriculture (NRCS automated SNOTEL stations) 862

Agriculture (NRCS automated SNOLITE stations) 24

Agriculture (NRCS automated SCAN stations) 220

Agriculture (Agricultural Research Service) 23

Forest Service Smoke Monitors 60

Forest Service RAWS 966

Forest Service (Research) 98

NASA (All Types) 1

Total = 38279

*Note: All 135 FAA Contract Wx Obsg Stations are 

colocated with a FAA or Commerce (NWS) ASOS

**Note: Transportation (FAA oversight Auto Sfc Obsg 

Sys, non-Fed inspected 1400) 

***Note: 17 Flight Service Stations in Alaska since 

2007 owned and supported by Harris Corporation

Table 8b: Surface, Marine Observations

Agency

Commerce (NOAA/NOS/SEAS-equipped ships)

No. of 2016 Sites

622

Notes

Commerce (NOAA/NOS/PORTS) 67 stations with met sensors

Commerce (NOAA/NOS/NWLON) 180 stations with met sensors

Commerce (NOAA/NWS Coastal-Marine Autom Network) 47

Commerce (NOAA/NWS/NDBC Buoys--moored) 101 does not include TAO and DART

Commerce (NOAA/OAR/AOML Buoys--drifting) 1238

Navy (Ships with met personnel) 29

Navy (Ships without met personnel) 259

Homeland Security (USCG Cutters) 245

Total = 2788

Table 8c: Upper Air, Balloon Observations

Agency No. of 2016 Sites Notes

Commerce (NOAA/NWS U.S.) 92

Commerce (NOAA/NWS Foreign, Cooperative) 10

Cooperative Hurricane Upper-Air Stations (CHUAS)

Commerce (NOAA/NWS met/ozone/water vapor) 135

Air Force, Fixed* 1

Army, Fixed (U.S. & Overseas) 19

Army, Mobile (U.S. and Overseas) 17

Navy, Fixed (U.S. & Overseas) 0

1-31
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Agency No. of 2016 Sites Notes

Navy, Mobile(U.S. & Overseas) 0

Navy, Ships 0

Marine Corps, Mobile 13

Total = 287

Table 8d: Atmospheric Profilers

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Commerce (NOAA/NWS) (404 and 449 MHz) 3

Air Force (Eastern Range) (915 MHz)

Air Force (Eastern Range) (SODARS)

Air Force (Western Range) (915 MHz)

Air Force (Western Range) (50 MHz)

Air Force (Western Range SODARS)

Army 12

NASA (50 MHz) 1

Table 8e: Doppler Weather Radar (WSR-88D) Sites

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Commerce (NOAA/NWS) 122

Air Force (U.S. & Overseas) 26

Transportation-FAA (Off CONUS) 13

Total = 161

Table 8f: Airport Terminal Doppler Weather Radars

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Transportation-FAA (Commissioned) 45

Total = 45

Table 8g: Conventional Radar (non-Doppler) Sites

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Air Force, Mobile Units

Army (U.S. and Overseas)

Transportation (FAA (WSP)) 34

Total = 34

Table 8h: Off-site WSR-88D Principle User Processors (PUPs)

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Air Force (OPUPs only) 7

Marine Corps (U.S. & Overseas) 0

Army

Total = 7

1-32
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Table 8i: Weather Reconnaissance Aircraft

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Commerce (NOAA/OMAO) 3

Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) - WC-130J 10

Total = 13

Table 8j: Geostationary Meteorological Satellites (No. operating)

Agency

No. of 2016 

Sites Notes

GOES 12 - South America Decommissioned GOES-R Target Launch Q1 FY 2017

GOES 13 - Operational East 1

GOES 14 - On-Orbit Storage 1

GOES 15 - Operational West 1

NESDIS Total = 3 http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Operations/GOES/status.html

Table 8k: Polar Meteorological Satellites (No. operating)

Agency No. of 2016 Sites Notes

METOP-B - AM Primary 1 EUMETSAT, not NOAA

METOP-A - AM Backup 1 EUMETSAT, not NOAA

NOAA 15 - AM Secondary 1

NOAA 16 - PM Secondary Decommissioned 

NOAA 17 - AM Backup Decommissioned 

NOAA 18 - PM Secondary 1

NOAA 19 - PM Prime Service Mission 1 

SNPP - PM Primary 1

NESDIS Sub-Total = 6 http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Operations/POES/status.html

Air Force (2 primary, 2 secondary, 2 tactical) 6 

Navy (WINDSAT) 1

Total = 13

Table 8l: Electric Field Mills (Surface)

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Army 5

Total = 6

1-33
Section 1. Agency Funding for Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research

Table 8m: Lightning Detection Systems

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Air Force (Eastern and Western Range Cloud-Ground) 2 

Air Force (Eastern and Western Range- NLDN & Total 

Ltng Sys) 2 

Army 6

Total = 10

Table 8n: Rocketsondes

Agency No. of 2016 Sites

Army Total = 1 

1-34
SECTION 2

FEDERAL METEOROLOGICAL 

SERVICES AND SUPPORTING 

RESEARCH PROGRAMS 

Federal Coordination and Planning

FEDERAL COORDINATION AND 

PLANNING FOR METEOROLOGICAL 

SERVICES AND SUPPORTING 

RESEARCH 

2-3 

The mission of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM) is to foster the effective use of Federal meteorological resources 

by encouraging and facilitating the systematic coordination of weather services and supporting research across the Federal Weather Enterprise.

The OFCM operates with policy guidance from the Federal Committee for Meteorological 

Services and Supporting Research (FCMSSR). The principal work in coordinating meteorological activities and in the preparation and maintenance of OFCM reports, plans, and other 

documents is accomplished by the OFCM staff with the advice and assistance of the Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (ICMSSR)

and 27 committees, working groups, and joint action groups. The members who serve on 

these entities are Federal agency representatives.

STATUTORY BASIS FOR THE FEDERAL COORDINATION 

PROCESS

In 1963, Congress and the Executive Office of the President expressed concern about the adequacy of the coordination of Federal meteorological activities. In response, Congress directed in 

Section 304 of Public Law 87-843 (the Appropriations Act for State, Justice, Commerce, and 

Related Agencies) that the Bureau of the Budget prepare an annual horizontal budget for all 

meteorological programs in the Federal agencies. The Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of 

Management and Budget, OMB) issued a report in 1963 entitled Survey of Federal Meteorological Activities. That report described each agency’s program for meteorological services and 

products and detailed the relationships among the programs of the various agencies. The report 

revealed close cooperation but little evidence of systematic coordination. Based on its survey, 

the Bureau of the Budget issued a set of ground rules to be followed in the coordination process. It established a permanent general philosophy for assignment and assessment of agency 

roles in the field of meteorology and set certain goals to be achieved by the coordination process. The Bureau of the Budget tasked the Department of Commerce (DOC) to establish the 

coordinating mechanism in concert with the other Federal agencies. It also reaffirmed the concept of having a central agency—the DOC—responsible for providing common meteorological 

facilities and services and clarified the responsibilities of other agencies for providing meteorological services specific to their mandated missions.

The implementation of these directives by DOC led to the creation of OFCM and the appointment of the first Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (the 

Federal Coordinator). The Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (FCMSSR) was established in 1964 to provide policy-level agency representation and 
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

guidance to the Federal Coordinator in addressing agency priorities, requirements, and issues 

related to services, operations, and supporting research. The FCMSSR also resolves agency 

differences that arise during the coordination of meteorological activities and the preparation of 

Federal plans.

FCMSSR comprises representatives of the 15 Federal agencies that engage in meteorological 

activities or supporting research, have a major need for meteorological services, or set policy 

and direction for such services and research. These 15 agencies are the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Commerce (DOC), Defense (DOD), Energy (DOE), Homeland Security (DHS), 

the Interior (DOI), State (DOS), and Transportation (DOT); the Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation 

(NSF), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), and Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(NRC); and OMB and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, who is also the Administrator of the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), serves as the FCMSSR Chairperson.

OFCM COORDINATING INFRASTRUCTURE

The OFCM coordinating infrastructure diagram on page 2-5 shows the current committees, 

working groups (WG), and joint action groups (JAG) through which OFCM carries out its mission of ensuring the effective use of Federal meteorological resources by coordinating operational weather requirements, services, and supporting research among the Federal agencies. 

FCMSSR is shown at the top of the diagram, as the policy guidance advisor to its subordinate 

elements and the Federal Coordinator.

• The Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research

(ICMSSR) is the primary Executive-level management body of the Federal coordinating 

structure. ICMSSR provides advice to OFCM, implements FCMSSR policies, and oversees 

the committees and working groups that address observing systems, weather operations 

and services, operational processing centers, and automated weather information systems. 

The full membership of ICMSSR is shown on the inside cover of this Federal Plan.

• Program Councils can be established under ICMSSR to coordinate key programs or mission 

areas to ensure they meet interagency needs. Additionally, Program Councils coordinate 

development and oversee the preparation and implementation of national program plans, 

which include research and development (R&D), systems development, validation and integration, acquisition strategy, operational concepts, agency roles, and management.

• The committees, working groups, and joint action groups operate at the program and working levels to provide: (1) a forum for each agency to report activities, challenges, and 

achievements; (2) a mechanism to coordinate change and problem solving; (3) a way to collect, document, and consolidate agency requirements and inventories; (4) oversight for coordinated system development; (5) a vehicle for coordinating with other groups internal and 

external to the coordinating infrastructure; and (6) a mechanism for the preparation of studies, agreements, standards, protocols, reports, and national plans. Working groups are intended to serve enduring coordination functions. Joint action groups are temporary elements 

established to address specific, short-term objectives

2-4 
Federal Coordination and Planning

Figure 1: The Federal Coordinating Infrastructure.

Using these multiagency groups, OFCM pursues the following objectives as the means to 

achieve its mission:

• Document agency programs and activities in a series of national plans and reports that enable agencies to adjust their individual ongoing programs, and provide a means for communicating new ideas and approaches to fulfill requirements.

• Provide structure and programs to promote continuity in development and coordination of 

interagency plans and procedures for meteorological services and supporting research. 

• Prepare analyses, summaries, or evaluations of agency meteorological programs and plans 

that provide a factual basis for the executive and legislative branches to make appropriate 

decisions on the allocation of funds.

• Review federal weather programs and federal requirements for meteorological services and 

supporting research. This review may suggest additions or revisions to current or proposed 

programs or identify opportunities for improved efficiency, reliability, or cost avoidance 

through coordinated actions and integrated programs.

OFCM HIGHLIGHTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016 AND PLANS 

FOR FISCAL YEAR 2017 

Federal coordination activities during FY 2016 and plans for FY 2017 are described here, organized by program/mission area and ICMSSR standing committee. The highlights begin with ac2-5 
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

tivities reporting directly to the Federal Coordinator, followed by the program/mission area and 

the ICMSSR standing committees.

Programs and Mission Areas

During the OFCM leadership transition in 2015, the OFCM conducted a thorough mission review of the Federal Meteorological Coordinating Infrastructure. A clear message was received 

by the participating agencies that the infrastructure should be streamlined, and toward that end 

the functions of the existing Program Councils were absorbed by the ICMSSR. Since that time, 

the NEXRAD Program Council was reactivated at the request of the agencies.

Next Generation Weather Radar Program

The Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) Program Council met for the first time in 20 

years in July 2016. The meeting was convened to address issues that have arisen in recent 

years regarding the future of the mature program. Action items from the meeting suggest a 

commitment to improved communication between the participating agencies, revisiting resource 

needs, and continuing the dialogue in future meetings.

Space Weather

Since 1995, the National Space Weather Program (NSWP) Council sought closer coordination 

of space weather science, research, and services to the Nation. In October 2014, NSWP Council and Committee for Space Weather activities were suspended in order for the agencies to 

support the OSTP Space Weather Operations, Readiness, and Mitigation (SWORM) Task 

Force.

As a result of reorganization of the Federal Coordinating Infrastructure, the ICMSSR deactivated 

the NSWP Council and assumed their responsibilities on August 10, 2015. The ICMSSR will 

continue to plan for and conduct the annual Space Weather Enterprise Forum and other space 

weather activities in support of the National effort.

In October 2015, OSTP published the National Space Weather Strategy (NSWS) and National 

Space Weather Action Plan (SWAP) and asked OFCM to provide Executive Secretary services 

for SWORM Task Force and its six subordinate Working Groups. OFCM will collaborate with 

OSTP to manage the NSWP and execute space weather elements of the SWAP.

Committees, Working Groups and Joint Action Groups 

Joint Action Group for the Federal Plan Revision

In response to an action item issued by the Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and 

Supporting Research (FCMSSR), the Joint Action Group for the Federal Plan Revision 

(JAG/FPR) was established to draft concise statements of federal meteorological coordination 

policy guidance and strategic objectives, to create a proposed outline for an annual report which 

would potentially replace the current Federal Plan for Meteorological Services and Supporting 

Research (the FedPlan), and to propose a timeline for implementation.

The annual FedPlan has been produced for the last several decades in response to legislation 

requiring the Executive Office of the President (EOP) Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB)’s precursor organization, the Bureau of the Budget, to provide a horizontal view of Fed2-6 
Federal Coordination and Planning

eral spending on meteorological services. Over time the FedPlan has grown in scope, requiring 

significant efforts from involved Federal agencies to produce a large report.

At the April 2016 FCMSSR meeting, membership pointed out that the annual timing of the 

FedPlan publication was not optimal and that the organization of the FedPlan made it difficult for 

some agencies to provide inputs. The FCMSSR directed a re-evaluation of the process used to 

create the FedPlan. A follow-on multi-agency exploratory meeting in July, and subsequent 

meetings between OFCM and the EOP Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), OMB 

and others revealed that compiling some of the data which the current FedPlan tasks the agencies to provide causes internal disruption in those agencies, while the resultant analysis drawn 

from that data provided little value to the interagency group.

Summary findings from the exploratory meeting and subsequent follow-up discussions included:

• An annual report detailing coordinated interagency efforts would benefit agency leadership 

in both decision making and program defense.

• An annual report would need to follow from overarching policy and strategic guidance.

• The amount of quantitative data in the current FedPlan is excessive, particularly the human 

resource figures. Additionally, the categories used in displaying the data are not applicable 

to many agencies and should be reconsidered.

The current vision is that an overarching document, i.e. a meteorological coordination strategic 

plan, would be produced every 4 years, while an annual document would be produced to report 

progress in support of that plan.

Committee for Operational Processing Centers

In FY 2016, Committee for Operational Processing Centers (COPC) continued to facilitate the 

exchange of information concerning numerical weather and ocean prediction modeling efforts, 

data resources or problems, and atmospheric, oceanographic, and satellite products for NOAA’s 

National Centers for Environmental Prediction and Office of Satellite and Product Operations, 

the Air Force 557 Weather Wing, the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center and Naval Oceanographic Office. Semiannual meetings of COPC continued in FY 

2016 and are expected to continue in FY 2017.

Working Group for Cooperative Support and Backup

Activities under COPC and its Working Group for Cooperative Support and Backup included:

• Exchange of JMA’s Himawari-8 data for situational awareness, MTSAT replacement, and 

GOES-R readiness capabilities. NOAA STAR is distributing the 16 channel data to NCEP 

and the Navy Centers in a non-operational environment. Air Force is distributing 5 channel 

data via the MARK IVB and sharing that same feed with FNMOC.

• Coordination and planning data exchange using NESDIS’ future enterprise data dissemination service called Product Dissemination and Access (PDA). The group is developing a 

process to support DoD’s existing legacy data flow purposes and to move new data requirements to the PDA as the least disruptive approach forward.

• Developing multiple OPC outage mitigation techniques for critical data sources and products. The goal is to increase the understanding of mission essential data exchange, single 

data sources, and data agency interdependencies, with the intent to mitigate the impacts on 

the OPCs when significant data outages occur.

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

Working Group for Observational Data

The Working Group for Observational Data (WG/OD) facilitates interagency acquisition, processing, and exchange of observational data among the national operational processing centers 

(OPCs) and other related data centers.

During FY 2016, the working group satisfied a number of interagency satellite data exchange 

requests, continued to seek new satellite and ocean data sources and products, and continued 

the development of a new reference document which will contain guidelines and procedures for 

the interagency management of conventional data similar to the interagency technical reference 

maintained for satellite data (TR-1).

In FY 2017, the Working Group will continue its efforts to meet interagency observational data 

issues including:

• Collaborative work among the national operational processing centers (OPC) to resolve critical metadata errors which have the potential to result in significant impacts to numerical 

models and products. Some of these metadata errors have resulted from the WMO directed 

transition from Traditional Alphanumeric Code (TAC) forms to Binary Universal Form for the 

Representation of meteorological information (BUFR)

• Update and maintenance of an OPC-comprehensive observational data inventory reflecting 

data streams used by all OPCs

• Adding several new members to participate in the development of new interagency data 

management standards and procedures in line with new WMO global data management directives.

• Participation in the operational test and evaluation of high resolution radiosonde data being 

implemented across the U.S.

Working Group for Centralized Communications Management

The Working Group for Centralized Communications Management (WG/CCM) coordinates

communication issues between the Operational Processing Centers (OPC), monitors the effectiveness of those communications, and performs capacity planning of capability needs. Activities 

include:

• FY 2016 - Developed and implemented an alternate NOAA/DOD OPC data exchange network path which has been used multiple times since April 2016 to mitigate network outages.

• FY 2017 - Finalize a Concept of Operations document for implementing planned and unplanned failovers to the alternate NOAA/DOD OPC data exchange network path.

• FY 2017 - Plan the use of the alternate path to meet DOD mandated security testing.

Committee for Operational Environmental Satellites

Responding to stakeholder desire to improve interagency communication and coordination in 

using environmental satellites the Committee for Operational Environmental Satellites (COES) 

was re-established in 2014.

COES conducted four meetings in FY2016. It continued to assess the need for interagency satellite requirements and conducted a systematic review of satellite capabilities available to the 

operational weather community. Among the issues COES addressed were, interagency environmental satellite coordination, satellite communication radio frequency encroachment, com2-8 
Federal Coordination and Planning

mercial space-based weather data acquisition and utilization, and emerging GPS radio occultation capabilities from meteorological observations.

Working Group for Hurricane and Winter Storms Operations and 

Research

In FY 2016, the Working Group for Hurricane and Winter Storms Operations and Research

(WG/HWSOR) continued to manage the interagency operations plans for hurricanes and winter 

storms and address related issues relevant to the Federal meteorological community.

The National Hurricane Operations Plan (NHOP) describes individual agency responsibilities 

and prescribes operational procedures, common reference points, formats for data exchange, 

tropical cyclone names and pronunciations, and other information to achieve economy and efficiency in the provision of tropical cyclone forecasting and warning services to the Nation. The 

plan is reviewed and updated annually in advance of the hurricane season to address action 

items and implement agreements reached at the Tropical Cyclone Operations and Research 

Conference/Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference (TCORF/IHC). The working group published the 54th edition of the NHOP in FY 2016, incorporating a variety of updates, including 

tropical cyclone names and pronunciations, data codes, and air traffic control-related procedures.

WG/HWSOR also manages the National Winter Storms Operations Plan (NWSOP) to coordinate the activities of the federal agencies providing enhanced observations of severe winter 

storms that affect the coastal regions of the United States. The plan focuses on the coordination 

of requirements for DOD and NOAA aircraft reconnaissance observations with the goal of improving the accuracy and timeliness of winter storm forecasts and warning services. The current 

NWSOP was published prior to the 2015 winter season. A new edition of the plan will be published early in FY 2017.

The WG/HWSOR depends on the annual TCORF/IHC to meet its hurricane-related responsibilities. The 2016 TCORF/70th IHC, held March 15-17 at the Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science on Key Biscayne, Florida, marked a departure from past forums, which were 

focused on tropical cyclone research. Tropical cyclone research was addressed as appropriate 

in the context of operational imperatives, and the meeting of the Working Group for Hurricane 

and Winter Storms Operation and Research, supporting the annual update of the NHOP, was 

re-incorporated into the conference. The new format was well-received by the 127 participants, 

and the focus on operations will continue in the future. The 2017 TCORF/71st IHC will be held 

March 14-17 at the same venue.

Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather 

and Water Data

The Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather and Water Data 

(WG/DIAP) coordinates the interagency acquisition, dissemination, and exchange of weather 

and water data, especially highly perishable data, for weather and water related environmental 

disasters. These data are used for the assessment of impacts to national resources and infrastructure, for scientific and engineering research, and to supplement emergency response operations when feasible. Primary responsibilities include the oversight and management of the 

National Plan for Disaster Impact Assessments: Weather and Water Data (NPDIA) and promotion of cooperation among the participating agencies regarding disaster impact assessment responses to events causing significant impact to national resources and infrastructure. 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

In FY 2016, the working group: 

• Began a restructure of the NPDIA to simplify the plan and include data collection protocols 

for glacier dammed lakes reconnaissance and tsunamis. 

• Renewed the annual agreement between OFCM and the U.S. Air Force for reimbursable 

support funds Civil Air Patrol missions such as Alaska glacial lake damming assessments, 

tornado damage photos and video, and severe flooding imagery.

• Coordinated four post-storm data acquisition surveys in response to significant tornado outbreaks and four glacier dammed lake assessments.

• Coordinated WG/DIAP responses to two land falling tropical storms: Colin and Hermine.

Joint Action Group for the COASTAL Act Post-Storm Analysis

Congress passed the Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses 

(COASTAL) Act in June 2012 to lower the cost of the National Flood Insurance Program by discerning better wind versus storm surge damages in cases where little tangible evidence beyond 

a building’s foundation remains for the proper adjustment of insurance claims after a hurricane 

or tropical storm. This law requires NOAA to produce detailed post-storm analyses following 

named storms that affect the coastal zone of the United States. These analyses are to be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within 90 days. NOAA is required to make all data and post-storm assessments available to the public and to maintain an 

online database.

The COASTAL Act also requires that NOAA, in consultation with OFCM, provide several interim 

deliverables to Congress, including an assessment of current capabilities and needs to provide 

the required post-storm analyses. The Federal Coordinator established the Joint Action Group 

for the COASTAL Act Post-Storm Analysis (JAG/CAPSA) to develop a COASTAL Act Capabilities Development Plan (CACDP) in collaboration with NOAA. The plan, which was submitted to 

the NOAA Administrator on April 15, 2013 and released to the Department of Commerce on 

June 7, 2013, provides for the collection of the required observational data to support poststorm assessments.

In 2015, the Joint Action Group for the COASTAL Act Post-Storm Analysis (JAG/CAPSA), was 

realigned under the Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather and 

Water (WG/DIAP). The observing protocol to support collection of data for the post-storm analyses required by the COASTAL Act was published in December 2013, exercised in 2015 for 

Hurricane Erika and in 2016 for Hurricane Matthew, and will be included in subsequent editions 

of the National Plan for Disaster Impact Assessments: Weather and Water Data (Publication 

FCM-P33).

Working Group for Volcanic Ash

The Working Group for Volcanic Ash (WG/VA) lays the groundwork for national volcanic ash 

policy and coordinates cooperative interagency efforts regarding volcanic ash products, services, procedures, and research, and oversees national volcanic ash operations for aviation in 

support of the ICAO International Airways Volcano Watch. In FY 2017, the Working Group will 

continue to monitor international progress in the development of the North American Volcanic 

Ash Contingency Plan for Aviation and prepare to revise the National Volcanic Ash Operations 

Plan for Aviation (NVAOPA) to ensure consistency with the international plan. 

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Federal Coordination and Planning

Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion

On June 14, 2016, OFCM sponsored a special session of the 20th annual George Mason University (GMU) Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion Modeling Conference. The theme of the 

session was Field Experiments and Observational Networks to Support Challenges with High 

Resolution Dispersion Models and Potential Developments for an ATD Test-bed. Presentations 

were made by subject matter experts from DOC/NOAA (National Weather Service/National 

Centers for Environmental Prediction, and Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research/Air Resources Laboratory and Earth System Research Laboratory), Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Defense Threat Reduction Agency, US Army Research Laboratory, Homeland Security Studies 

and Analysis Institute, State University of New York at Albany, and the University of Notre 

Dame.

The session highlighted recent field experiments, current and planned observational infrastructure to support future field experiments, and efforts to make data from past experiments more 

readily available. The session concluded with a live, real-time survey of participant opinions 

based on data collected interactively from their cell phones. OFCM will continue its partnership 

with GMU by sponsoring a session in the 2017 conference, which will be held at GMU in June 

2017.

Aviation Weather

OFCM participates in a variety of Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Interagency Planning Office (IPO) activities, including the NextGen Weather Advisor meetings and 

NextGen Executive Weather Panel (NEWP) meetings. OFCM is also involved in other efforts 

that dovetail with aviation weather concerns, including supporting groups dealing with wind turbine radar interference, the Spectrum Efficient National Surveillance Radar, and meteorological 

codes and observing practices.

OFCM will continue this collaborative work within the NextGen structure in FY 2017.

Committee for Observing Systems and Serivces

OFCM work related to the Committee on Observing Systems and Services (formerly the Committee for Integrated Observing Systems (CIOS)) in early 2016 focused on collaboration with the 

American Meteorology Society (AMS) Nationwide Network of Networks Committee on a jointly 

sponsored a forum on “Observing the Environment from the Ground Up.” The forum was held 

March 8-9, 2016 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, 

DC. It featured a keynote address by Manson Brown, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction. Session topics included past successes and future 

needs; data providers and data users; data sharing; and big data and the data from the internet 

of things.

Other activities related to observing involved updates to Federal Meteorological Handbooks 

(FMHs), including:

• Issues related to surface observing and FMH-1, Surface Weather Observations and Reports

were largely resolved in 2016, and a new change was being prepared for agency approval 

and publication as the fiscal year drew to a close.

• A new change to FMH-11, Doppler Radar Meteorological Observations (WSR-88D) Part A - 

System Concepts, Responsibilities, and Procedures was completed, approved by ICMSSR 

and published in January 2016.

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

Joint Action Group for Unmanned Aerial Systems

OFCM deactivated the Joint Action Group for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Environmental Monitoring (JAG/UAS-EM) in 2016 during the infrastructure reorganization. However, the office continues to support other interagency groups working UAS development and utilization 

issues including the Interagency Coordinating Committee for Airborne Geosciences Research 

and Applications (ICCAGRA) and the NSTC Subcommittee for Unmanned Systems.

The ICCAGRA meets semiannually to improve cooperation, foster awareness, facilitate communication among airborne instrument-sponsoring agencies, and serve as a resource to seniorlevel management on airborne geosciences issues. The Committee facilitates cooperation on

the use of airborne platforms and payloads for individual investigators as well as national and 

international field campaigns. OFCM supports ICCAGRA through meeting participation and access to the OFCM federal meteorological coordinating infrastructure.

OFCM continues to support the activities of the CENRS Ocean Science and Technology Subcommittee’s work on unmanned systems. OFCM’s participation provides a connection to meteorological research and service providers and supports effective coordination of unmanned system applications across the federal enterprise. 

Interdepartmental Weather Research Committee (IWRC)

The Interdepartmental Weather Research Committee, formerly known as the Committee for 

Cooperative Research, was reactivated by the ICMSSR on Sep 29, 2016. The IWRC will coordinate basic and applied US research activities aimed at a better fundamental understanding, 

and improved prediction of high impact weather with a potential for future socioeconomic and 

environmental benefits, including applications in support of weather sensitive decision making at 

Federal, State, and other agencies (i.e., “high impact weather research”). In particular, IWRC 

will help to (a) map U.S. agency weather research priorities onto the three existing major 

WMO/WWRP weather research projects; (b) articulate US interests in the execution of 

WMO/WWRP projects, and (c) explore and engage with new national and international weather 

research initiatives associated with or pursuant to the current major WMO/WWRP projects. 

IWRC will provide a forum where agencies can best leverage efforts among themselves and in 

the international community to achieve agency goals.

Working Group for Tropical Cyclone Research

In 2007, the Joint Action Group for Tropical Cyclone Research (JAG/TCR) completed the Interagency Strategic Research Plan for Tropical Cyclones: The Way Ahead. This plan presented a 

shared set of R&D priorities matched to operational requirements from the tropical cyclone forecast and warning centers and served as a baseline for NOAA’s Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP). In 2008, 2010, and 2012 the Working Group for Tropical Cyclone Research (WG/TCR), which succeeded the JAG/TCR, assessed agency research investment 

mapped against tropical cyclone research needs and operational priorities.

Several efforts were made after 2012 to conduct a mid-course assessment of progress in meeting the goals of the 2007 Plan. Due to resource limitations, however, an assessment was never 

completed. During the 2016 Tropical Cyclone Operations and Research Forum, the consensus 

of the community was to focus on a final assessment of achievements resulting from 10 years of 

targeted investment. The final assessment should be completed during 2017.

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Federal Coordination and Planning

For additional information on tropical cyclone research, see the Working Group for Hurricane 

and Winter Storms Operations and Research and Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference section above.

Working Group for Meteorological Codes

In FY 2014, OFCM formed the Joint Action Group for IWXXM Implementation (METAR Transition) in response to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) initiative to transition the 

METAR family of codes (METAR, SPECI, TAF, and SIGMET) from the current traditional alphanumeric code (TAC) format to an Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based code. In 2015 the 

JAG began the process of addressing governance issues, which related closely to OFCM responsibilities for coordinating and documenting interagency agreements on observing practices 

and codes. In FY 2016 the JAG outlined a plan for transitioning the TAC format to IWXXM within 

the United States. Changing schedules, issues related to extensibility, and the addition of other 

aviation-related weather products (e.g., volcanic ash advisories) to those in line for conversion 

has delayed work on the transition plan. Final decisions at an October 2016 ICAO meeting 

should clear the way for work on the plan.

Working Group for Multifunction Phased Array Radar

The Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR) initiative seeks to consolidate the radar surveillance missions of four agencies: DOD, DHS, DOC/NOAA, and DOT/Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), reducing the number of radars required and consolidating operations and logistics. The MPAR initiative experienced dramatic evolution during FY 2006. DOD and DHS became active participants as a result of a concrete opportunity to use proceeds from Federal 

spectrum sales to fund the next generation of surveillance radars. New legislation made funding 

from previous spectrum sales available to support feasibility studies for future sales. Further, the 

legislation mandated study of the sale of spectrum associated with some of the radars included 

in the MPAR concept.

In response to the changes, FAA assumed de facto leadership of the initiative, which was renamed Spectrum Efficient National Surveillance Radar (SENSR). The four participating agencies have drafted a plan that serves as the request for about $60M for the first phase of a feasibility study. OFCM continues to participate in the effort, contributing background, corporate history, and experience in interagency coordination.

Meanwhile, MPAR as a NOAA program continues in collaboration with FAA. Work on the MPAR 

Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) advanced through critical design review. The demonstrator will be a four meter active dual pol array with a backend leveraging the Navy’s Affordable Common Radar Architecture. Each panel has 64 transmitting elements. A highly flexible off-the-shelf mounting pedestal will facilitate calibration, and applications software is being 

adapted from the National Weather Radar Testbed (NWRT), which is also contributing the rotating platform, radome, and other infrastructure resources. The SPY-1A radar, the original NWRT, 

has been decommissioned and removed from the facility at the National Severe Storms Laboratory. The ATD antenna, being built by Lincoln Laboratory, will be delivered and installed in FY 

2017, and data from the ATD should be available to support key decisions related to SENSR.

Committee for Climate Services

An exploratory meeting of the Committee for Climate Services was held for the first time in nearly 10 years in May 2016. The meeting was convened to learn what climate services are being 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

produced by various agencies, see if potential leveraging opportunities exist, and determine if 

there was a need to re-start the Climate Services Committee. The group recommended the restart of the committee and a desire to not duplicate the work of USGCRP. The Committee 

agreed to keep USGCRP informed of its actions and remain cognizant of USGCRP’s plans and 

efforts. The Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research 

has concurred with the recommendation to restart the Committee for Climate Services.

OFCM External Coordination

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

OFCM reinvigorated dialog with OMB regarding the interagency coordination process and the 

requirement for a cross-agency budgetary view to the meteorological enterprise. The Federal 

Coordinator established new working relationships with the OMB program analysts for the 

agencies engaged in the meteorological enterprise.

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

OFCM provides Executive Secretary support for the Space Weather Operations, Readiness, 

and Mitigation (SWORM) Task Force and all six of its subordinate Working Groups.

OFCM also participates in the US Group for Earth Observations (USGEO) managed through 

OSTP. In 2015, OFCM participated in the USGEO Satellite Framework Task Force to develop a 

strategy to more leverage current and planned environmental satellite investments across the 

whole of the Federal government.

Additionally, OFCM supports interagency coordination efforts through the Subcommittee for 

Unmanned Systems (SUS), the Subcommittee for Disaster Reduction (SDR), and other elements of the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee for Environment, 

Natural Resources Sustainability (CENRS).

NAS/NRC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

OFCM continues its mutually beneficial interactions with the National Research Council (NRC). 

The Federal Coordinator participates in the NRC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate 

(BASC) strategic planning workshops and attends regularly scheduled BASC meetings.

NAS/NRC Space Science Board, Committee on Space and Solar Physics

The NSWP Executive Secretary provided program updates to the NRC Space Science Board 

(SSB) and its Committee on Space and Solar Physics (CSSP). The OFCM anticipates that the 

CSSP will continue to invite the NSWP members and the Executive Secretary to participate in 

its semiannual meetings. The OFCM and SSB are seeking ways to leverage each other’s 

strengths in bringing together the federal and nongovernmental space weather communities.

American Meteorological Society

OFCM supports AMS activities by participating in AMS conferences and workshops and serves 

on committees, groups, and teams as appropriate. OFCM co-sponsored a forum in March 2016 

with the AMS Nationwide Network of Networks Committee (see section on Committee for Ob2-14
Federal Coordination and Planning

serving Systems and Services above) and co-authored and presented a paper at the 96th AMS 

Annual Meeting. In 2017 OFCM will once again co-author and present a paper at the AMS annual meeting in January and participate in several committee meetings.

FY 2016 OFCM PUBLICATIONS

The publications listed in table 1 were added to OFCM’s website (http://www.ofcm.gov) during 

FY 2016. 

Table 1: FY16 OFCM Publications

OFCM PUBLICATION DATE NUMBER

Federal Plan for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, Fiscal Year 2016 September 2015 FCM-P1-2015

National Hurricane Operations Plan

• 2016 Build 16.1 Dual Pol WSR-88D Tropical 

Cyclone Operations Plan (05/27/2016)

o "QUICK CHECK" List

May 2016 FCM-P12-2016

2016 Tropical Cyclone Operations and Research 

Forum/70th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference Summary Report

April 2016 n/a

Proceedings of the Special Session, 20th Annual 

George Mason University (GMU) Atmospheric 

Transport and Dispersion Modeling Conference

August 2016 n/a

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

2-16
BASIC SERVICES

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Basic Services include the basic meteorological service 

system, to include observations, public weather forecasts, severe weather warnings and advisories, and the meteorological satellite activities of NOAA. Basic Services also include the

operations and supporting research of other Federal agencies that have been identified as 

contributing to basic meteorological services.

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

NOAA/National Weather Service

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service 

(NWS) provides climate, water, weather, ocean, aviation and space weather warnings and forecasts for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters, and ocean areas to help protect life 

and property and enhance the national economy. These services are provided through 122 

Weather Forecast Offices (WFO), 13 River Forecast Centers (RFC), the National Centers for 

Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and the National Water Center (NWC). These offices collect 

data, prepare local warnings and forecasts, and disseminate information to the public, both nationally and internationally, through NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), satellite-based telecommunication systems, radiofacsimile, the media, and the internet. NWS forecasters issue shortduration watches and warnings for severe weather, such as tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, as well as long-duration forecasts, watches, warnings and advisories for hazardous winter weather conditions, high wind events, dense fog, river levels, flooding and extreme temperatures.

The NWS uses surveillance technologies 

such as a national network of Doppler 

weather radars, satellites operated by NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, 

and Information Service (NESDIS), aircraft 

observations, data buoys for marine observations and tsunami detection, surface 

weather observing systems at airports, and 

weather balloons to obtain vertical measurements of the atmosphere. Some observations are obtained through the Cooperative 

Observer Program (COOP), a nationwide 

network of volunteer-operated weather observing sites. Many other observations are 

contributed through arrangements with publicly and privately operated networks. Observations feed sophisticated environmental 

prediction models running on high performance supercomputers, which provide 

Figure 1: The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing 

System (AWIPS) is a technologically advanced information processing, display, and telecommunications 

system. AWIPS is an interactive computer system that 

integrates all meteorological and hydrological data, and 

timely forecasts and warnings (NOAA Image)

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

weather, water, climate, ocean, aviation and space weather forecast guidance that is available 

to users. The NWS’ highly trained and skilled workforce uses powerful workstations to analyze 

these data to issue forecasts and warnings around the clock. A high-speed communications hub 

allows for the efficient exchange of these data and products among NWS components, partners, 

and other users. NWS integrated dissemination infrastructure includes NWR, terrestrial, and 

satellite broadcasts, while the internet rapidly distributes this information.

The NWS creates forecasts in digital formats and makes them readily available. Forecasters 

use their expertise to maintain an up-to-date digital forecast database of weather elements. This 

information is stored in the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). Output from the NDFD 

is publicly available in the form of web graphics on the Internet and in several other digital formats. Outreach, education, and feedback are also critical elements in effective public response 

and improvements to NWS services.

RFCs routinely generate short range (deterministic) through extended range (probabilistic) river 

forecasts and (deterministic) flash flood guidance. Information from the RFCs and NCEP’s 

Weather Prediction Center (WPC) serves as the basis for local flood and flash flood warnings, 

watches and advisories issued by the WFOs. Some RFCs, especially those in mountainous regions, also provide water-supply volume and peak-flow forecasts based on snow pack in high 

elevations.

These water supply forecasts are used by a wide range of decision makers, including those in 

agriculture, hydroelectric dam operation and electricity generation, and water resources management. A new element of the NWS water resources program infrastructure, NWC, was completed in early 2014 on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The 

NWC will enable NOAA, in partnership with other federal agencies, to deliver a new generation 

of water information and services to the nation. The NWC provides comprehensive snow observations, analyses, data sets and map products for the Nation. NWC products and services are 

used by RFCs and WFOs to develop a variety of hydrologic products such as spring flood outlooks, water supply outlooks, river and flood forecasts, and reservoir inflow forecasts. Planned 

for July 2016, the NWC will deliver the National Water Model (NWM). The NWM is a high spatial 

and temporal resolution, continental-scale model of the nation’s river and stream network. The 

NWM will augment and expand NOAA’s current water quantity forecasts, delivered for approximately 4000 river locations with stream gages, primarily operated by the USGS, across the 

country, to streamflow forecasts for 2.7 million streams nationwide, and high-resolution gridded 

forecasts of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, runoff, and other parameters. Future services, 

enabled by the NWM, will strengthen the nation’s water forecast capabilities for floods and 

droughts, improve preparedness for water related disasters, and inform high-value water decisions at the local, state and national levels.

NCEP consists of nine national centers that provide a backbone of national expertise for both 

forecast and numerical guidance. The NCEP Storm Prediction Center (SPC) provides forecasts 

and watches for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes over the contiguous United States. The 

National Hurricane Center (NHC) provides forecasts of tropical weather systems and issues 

watches and warnings for the U.S. and surrounding areas for systems in the tropical North Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Eastern Pacific and provides educational outreach and 

guidance for the international community in the region. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center 

(Honolulu) and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (Pearl Harbor) provide additional tropical cyclone coverage for the central and western Pacific, though not part of NCEP. The WPC provides 

analyses and forecast products with a focus on precipitation amount and type, winter precipitation, model diagnostics, surface pressure, frontal analysis and forecast products for the medium 

range (days 3-7). The Ocean Prediction Center (OPC), along with NHC, issues marine forecasts 

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Basic Services

for the Atlantic and Pacific oceans from the equator to the northern polar regions. The Aviation 

Weather Center (AWC) provides aviation warnings and forecasts of hazardous flight conditions 

at all levels within domestic and international air space. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) 

provides assessments and forecasts of the impact of short-term climate variability, emphasizing 

enhanced risks of weather-related extreme events for use in mitigating losses and maximizing 

economic gain. The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) provides real-time monitoring 

and forecasting of solar and geophysical events which impact satellites, power grids, communications, navigation, and many other technological systems. The Environmental Modeling Center 

(EMC) develops and improves numerical weather, climate, hydrological and ocean prediction 

through applied research in data analysis, modeling and product development. NCEP Central 

Operations (NCO) sustains and executes the operational suite of numerical environmental analysis and forecast models and prepares NCEP products for dissemination. They also process 

and manage the flow of data and products to and from the NCEP centers, partners, and customers. NCO also operates the NWS Telecommunications Operations Center, which provides 

for central, continuous acquisition, communications and dissemination of NWS and other domestic and foreign meteorological data and products.

There are other specialized service centers within the NWS. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) use data from a worldwide 

seismic network and Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys located throughout the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea to issue tsunami watches 

and warnings for all U.S. and many international coastal communities. The National Data Buoy 

Center (NDBC) is responsible for the deployment and maintenance of coastal and ocean buoys 

and sensors that are used for marine forecasts and analysis of ocean-based storms. The NWS 

Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) located in Anchorage, Alaska, provides worldwide warnings and advisories to aviation interests regarding airborne volcanic ash hazards (see further 

description of the global system of VAACs in the section on volcanic ash in Aviation Services.) 

The Radar Operations Center (ROC) provides centralized meteorological, software, maintenance, and engineering support for all Next-Generation Radar (NEXRAD systems for NWS, 

Department of Defense (DOD), and Department of Transportation (DOT). The National Reconditioning Center and National Logistics Support Center (NRC/NLSC) is the hub that provides 

mission critical components through which NWS equipment and DOT and DOD equipment pass 

for repair, quality inspection, warehousing, and distribution

NWS support several health-related programs such as Heat Health, the Ultraviolet Index and Air 

Quality. Heat Health Watch Warning Systems (HHWWS) have been developed for select cities 

to provide advance notice of excessive heat events that produce the greatest number of weather-related deaths. 

NWS’ suite of products and services enable core partners’ decisions when weather, water, or 

climate has a direct impact on the protection of lives and livelihoods. As NWS works to fulfill the 

vision of a Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) its diverse portfolio of service capabilities will become 

more focused on a framework approach that will enable the agency to provide the foundational 

information and Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) needed. It is at this juncture 

where NWS’ highly skilled workforce provides significant value to achieve its mission. IDSS is a 

foundational concept of NWS’ WRN. Rather than developing and transmitting a suite of products at fixed times during the day and expecting stakeholders to fully understand and take appropriate action; IDSS changes the paradigm so information users drive the update frequency 

and value-added meaning of the product. IDSS also provides greater flexibility for forecasters to 

work with key governmental partners and even embed within their emergency operations centers to give first hand support to enhance decision making and public safety.

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In 2015, NOAA completed a restructure of the NWS budget to simplify and align with functions. 

This restructure has restored budget credibility and transparency by strengthening internal controls and customer service while improving coordination and collaboration among activities that 

serve NWS’ overall mission. Guided by the recent National Academy of Sciences, “Becoming 

Second to None” (2012), and the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), “Forecast 

for the Future: Assuring the Capacity of the NWS” (2013) reports, NWS implemented the new 

portfolio-based budget structure and reorganized headquarters in order to better support mission operations; improve prioritization and management of resources; and improve consistency 

of NWS products and services.

NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information 

Service

NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) operates the 

Nation’s civil operational environmental satellite system, making continuous observations of 

Earth and its oceans and atmosphere. Satellite observations are collected, processed, and used 

to develop weather, climate, ocean, and other environmental products, services, and long-term 

data records that benefit the American public.

Currently, NOAA’s main satellite constellations are the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES). These 

two systems provide the U.S. component of a joint environmental monitoring system in partnership with the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). NOAA also operates the Suomi National Polar Partnership (S-NPP) satellite, a NOAA-NASA mission which is the precursor to the future NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System 

(JPSS). On behalf of the Department of Defense (DoD), NESDIS also operates the Defense 

Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft, part of the military’s sixth generation of 

weather satellites. NOAA also operates the Jason series of joint U.S.-European specialized polar-orbiting satellites that measure ocean surface topography. The first U.S. deep space satellite, DSCOVR – a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force, is also operated 

by NOAA and provides early warning for energy surges that could cause geomagnetic storms 

destined for Earth. In addition, on behalf of the Department of Commerce (DOC), NESDIS licenses the operation of commercial remote-sensing land-imaging satellites. NESDIS also provides long-term stewardship of environmental data, managing the world’s largest collection of 

climatic, geophysical, and oceanographic data derived from both in situ and space-based systems.

Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES)

POES circle Earth in a nearly north-south orbit at an altitude of 517 miles, passing close to both 

poles. These satellites ensure observational data for any region of Earth are no more than six

hours old. Data from POES support global weather forecasting models, long-term global climate 

change research, and hazard detection and mitigation. In addition to S-NPP, NESDIS operates 

NOAA-15, NOAA-18, and NOAA-19, which continue to transmit data as back-up and secondary 

satellites. NESDIS also manages the command, control, and communications functions of 

DoD’s DMSP. MetOp-B, operated by EUMETSAT and launched in 2012, provides operational 

environmental monitoring in the mid-morning orbit. MetOp-A provides secondary coverage. The 

MetOp satellites carry three instruments provided by NOAA. 

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In addition, NOAA operates Jason-2 and Jason-3. This spacecraft series mission is to provide 

physical data of the ocean surface, including ocean surface altimetry, sea wave height, sea 

wave period, surface roughness, and other measurements. This mission, also called the Ocean 

Surface Topography Mission, is a follow-on to the successful Jason-1 mission developed by the 

French space agency—Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES)—and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)

JPSS is the next generation of U.S. civil polar-orbiting satellites, with the launch of JPSS-1 

scheduled for FY 2017. 

Because weather forecasters rely on data from NOAA’s current on-orbit assets, JPSS platforms 

focus on ensuring short- and long-term continuity in crucial weather forecasting, environmental 

monitoring, and climate monitoring data. S-NPP, the bridge mission between POES and JPSS, 

was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on October 28, 2011. In 

addition to serving as a prototype for the next-generation of NOAA’s polar-orbiting satellites, SNPP provides continuity for NASA’s Earth Observing System mission. In 2013, operation was 

transferred to NOAA’s Office of Satellite Product Operations (OSPO), and in 2014 S-NPP was 

declared NOAA’s primary operational polar-orbiting spacecraft for NOAA’s operational weather 

forecasting mission. NOAA and EUMETSAT signed the Joint Polar System Agreement in December 2015. This Agreement will continue their long history of cooperation in the polar orbit 

well into the 2030s. JPSS-1 is scheduled to be launched no later than the second quarter of FY 

2017; JPSS continues to enhance the ground segment of the program to support S-NPP operations as well as to prepare for JPSS-1. NOAA-NESDIS maintains a strong partnership with EUMETSAT, which will continue to be a cornerstone of a joint polar-orbiting constellation and will 

ensure NOAA-NESDIS’ ability to provide continuous measurements. JPSS continues to make 

progress on JPSS-2 development. The JPSS-2 spacecraft is on contract, and contracts for 

JPSS-2 instruments have been awarded. NOAA has also entered into agreement with NASA for 

the provision and accommodation of additional instruments to be flown on JPSS-2. The JPSS-2 

instrument contracts will be completed by mid-FY 2016. JPSS-2 is planned for launch in FY 

2021. With the FY 2016 funding, JPSS has initiated development of two more satellite missions 

to follow JPSS-2: the Polar Follow-On (PFO) JPSS-3 and JPSS-4. These spacecraft will provide 

continuity for observations from the polar orbit well into the 2030s.

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)

GOES spacecraft orbit Earth in a geostationary position at an altitude of 22,300 miles, which 

means they orbit the equatorial plane of Earth at a speed matching Earth’s rotation. The GOES 

system provides continuous observations of environmental conditions of North, Central, and

South America and the surrounding oceans. These spacecraft provide data critical for fast, accurate weather forecasts and warnings, detection of solar storm activity, and relay of distress 

signals from emergency beacons. They provide nearly continuous monitoring necessary for effective, detailed, and extensive weather forecasting, prediction, and environmental monitoring.

There are two operational geostationary satellites for the North American region, GOES-East at 

75°W and GOES-West, at 135°W, plus an on-orbit spare satellite at 105°W. Each operational 

satellite continuously views nearly one-third of Earth’s surface. GOES-P was launched on 

March 4, 2010, and was renamed GOES-15 once it was successfully on orbit. GOES-15 is the 

third and last in the current series of NOAA geostationary satellites. The current constellation 

consists of GOES-15 (West), GOES-13 (East), and GOES-14 (on-orbit spare).

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GOES Series R

Figure 2: Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite–R Series (GOES-R). Image courtesy GOES-R Series 

Program and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Geostationary satellites remain the 

weather sentinels for NOAA—tracking 

hurricanes, severe storms, clouds, and 

ocean features. The next-generation geostationary satellite series is called the Geostationary Operational Environment Satellite – R (GOES-R) series. The advanced 

spacecraft and instrument technology 

used on the GOES-R series will result in 

more timely and accurate weather forecasts. It will improve support for the detection and observations of meteorological phenomena and directly benefit public 

safety, protection of property, and, ultimately, economic health and development. The GOES-R Advanced Baseline 

Imager (ABI) will scan its field of view on 

Earth nearly five times faster, with more 

than three times the spectral coverage 

and four times the spatial resolution of the 

current GOES imager. The GOES-R series will provide users like meteorologists 

and government agencies with approximately 60 times the amount of data currently provided. The Geostationary Lightning Mapper 

(GLM), in geostationary orbit for the first time, will be capable of measuring total lightning activity 

continuously day and night with a horizontal resolution on the order of 10 km and detection efficiency ranging between 70 and 90%. 

To ensure user readiness, forecasters and other users must have access to prototype advanced 

products within their operational environment well before launch. The GOES-R Proving Ground 

(http://www.goes-r.gov/users/proving-ground.html) engages the National Weather Service 

(NWS) forecast, watch, and warning community and other agency users in pre-operational 

demonstrations of the new and advanced capabilities that will be available from the GOES-R 

series. Examples of the advanced products include improvements on: volcanic ash detection, 

lightning detection, dust and aerosol detection, synthetic cloud and moisture imagery, as well as 

one-minute interval rapid scan imagery. A key component of the GOES-R Proving Ground is the 

two-way interaction between the researchers who introduce new products and techniques and 

the forecasters who then provide feedback and ideas for improvements that can best be incorporated into NOAA’s integrated observing and analysis operations.

The GOES-R series is a collaborative development and acquisition effort between NOAA and 

NASA. In FY 2017, the GOES-R Series Program is planning for the launch of the GOES-R satellite in the first quarter and associated post-launch testing and on-orbit checkout of the spacecraft, ground system, and data-processing and distribution services. Additional FY 2017 activities include continued development and integration activities of the GOES-S spacecraft hardware, and continued development of the instruments for GOES-T and GOES-U.

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NOAA/NESDIS Data Centers

National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) 

The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI, www.ncei.noaa.gov) is the official 

source for historical and near-real-time data and information covering weather, climate, coasts, 

oceans, geophysics, and space weather. 

Access to reliable and accurate long-term records of environmental data and information is critical to satisfying the Nation’s wide range of business, education, and government needs related 

to national security, the economy, the environment, and public safety. This includes policies and 

decisions that have an impact on water and energy management, manufacturing, transportation, 

food production, public health, and many other socio-economic issues that depend on quality 

data records and information. 

The NCEI headquarters are in Asheville, NC, with major presences also in Boulder, CO, Silver 

Spring, MD, and Stennis Space Center, MS. NCEI is divided into two science centers and a data stewardship division, which provides data preservation and access services.

• NCEI ensures the scientific integrity and usefulness of NCEI products and services through 

data synthesis, including description, monitoring, modeling, and assessment, data and information preservation, and dissemination. 

• NCEI performs quality assurance and reanalysis of historical data, including long-term satellite and weather station data records, to establish and update baseline data sets for global 

and national standards and environmental monitoring using current information technologies.

• NCEI’s authoritative data and information enables today’s events to be put in historical perspective and allows national decision-makers to make confident, data- and informationdriven determinations about trends and extremes, such as how unusual or extreme a 

drought, snowstorm, or other environmental event is, providing for more appropriate government and industry responses, including cost-effective emergency appropriations. 

• NCEI products include decadal, annual, monthly, weekly, and daily U.S. and global weather 

summaries and climate reports, assessments of billion-dollar disasters, the World Ocean Atlas, and the World Magnetic Model. 

• NCEI works with many partners across the Nation, including other NOAA Line Offices and 

Cooperative Institutes (CIs), federal agencies, and national and international contributors 

and users of NCEI data, including industry, academia, and government.

Center for Weather and Climate (also see Climate Services) 

The Center for Weather and Climate advances and enables weather and climate science and 

decision-making through the acquisition, monitoring, analysis, synthesis, and delivery of observations, derived products and assessments, and information and outreach services. The Center 

uses data from national and international sources and operates observing systems for long-term 

monitoring (e.g., U.S. Climate Reference Network). It develops, describes, and helps implement 

operational quality control procedures and statistically analyzes observations and products to 

improve their value, utility, and homogeneity. The Center actively engages across NOAA and 

both the private and public sectors to collect and understand user needs. It develops responsive 

datasets, products, and services that improve environmental literacy, enable decision-making, 

support scientific advances and assessments, and inform policymaking. It actively engages the 

public through regional and sectoral services as well as scientific collaborations. In addition, the 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

Center promotes the scientific integrity and usefulness of its products and services through interactions with data providers, users, and the public. It interacts with constituents to promote 

awareness, understanding, access, and use of its data, information, and capabilities to ensure 

that all products and services meet user requirements. The Center supports U.S. bilateral and 

international commitments, principally with the World Meteorological Organization. This includes 

operating the World Data Systems for Meteorology and Paleoclimatology under the auspices of 

the International Council for Science, providing expertise for intergovernmental and nongovernmental scientific programs.

Center for Coasts, Oceans, and Geophysics (also see Climate Services) 

Previously NOAA's National Coastal Data Development Center, National Oceanographic Data 

Center, and National Geophysical Data Center, this center is responsible for preserving, monitoring, and assessing the Nation's treasure of coastal, geophysical, and oceanographic data 

and information.

The Center for Coasts, Oceans, and Geophysics (CCOG) is the trusted authority that advances 

and enables environmental science and related decision-making from resilient coastal communities to space weather. With oceanographic, geophysical, and solar observations that stretch 

from the surface of the sun to the depths of the oceans, CCOG derives products, develops assessments, and delivers information services in support of customer requirements. CCOG’s capabilities support essential services to foster sustainable economic development and support 

coastal communities to prepare for and respond to emergencies. CCOG conducts integrated 

scientific analyses of coastal and marine environmental data sets to better understand historical 

trends, anomalies, and the frequency of occurrences of events in large marine ecosystems over 

a decadal or longer temporal scale. In support of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, 

CCOG delivers sea ice extent and concentration products supporting NOAA and Navy operational ice forecasts in the Arctic as well as climatological sea ice trends. These long-term environmental and marine climatology data records provide NOAA, national and international data 

centers, researchers, and coastal zone managers information to understand an ecosystem’s 

historical record and to better enable the decision-making process, to establish status and 

trends, and to forecast future impacts on the ecosystem. CCOG is a leader in integrating physical, biological, chemical, and living coastal and marine resource data based on the user requirements for this purpose. In addition, CCOG promotes the scientific integrity and usefulness 

of its products and services through interactions with data providers, users, and the public. 

• NCEI’s Coastal Data Development (CDD) program, based in Stennis, MS, conducts integrated scientific analysis of coastal and marine environmental data sets to better understand 

historical trends, anomalies, and the frequency of occurrences of events in large marine 

ecosystems. CDD focuses on the development of products and services that bring together 

scientists and coastal managers in support of coastal ecological and observational data and 

information.

Data Stewardship Division 

The Data Stewardship Division (DSD) of NCEI provides data preservation and access services 

that enable the NCEI centers, other government agencies, and the public to exploit NOAA’s 

multi-billion dollar investment in environmental observations. DSD maintains the nation’s archive 

of environmental information, as well as international data holdings through the World Data System. It maximizes availability of archived information by leveraging data portals such as data.gov and the World Meteorological Organization Information System. DSD leads and partici2-24
Basic Services

pates in developing and implementing standard practices in data and information management 

that facilitate data services and interoperability. DSD’s archive and access capabilities make 

use of a cost-effective suite of systems including CLASS, the Comprehensive Large Array-data 

Stewardship System, which supports satellite operations.

To guarantee the integrity and utility of NCEI’s physical and digital holdings, DSD performs essential data management functions including:

• Acquisition of real-time and historical data sets from national and international sources;

• Automated data ingest, including quality assurance, quality control, and data validation;

• Data rescue from limited access sources or deteriorating media;

• Secure preservation, including redundant offsite storage and media migration;

• Interoperable data sharing through use of national and international standards for metadata, 

data formats, and web services; 

• Data documentation and metadata cataloging;

• Information processing, product generation and data reprocessing; and

• Data publication and dissemination.

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations

The NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) operates a fleet of survey ships 

and aircraft to support NOAA’s mission goals. NOAA’s ship fleet includes oceanographic and 

atmospheric research vessels. The NOAA aircraft fleet includes aircraft that collect environmental and geographic data essential to NOAA hurricane and other severe weather and atmospheric research and aircraft that conduct aerial surveys to forecast water supply and flooding potential from snow melt. 

NOAA vessels make weather and ocean observations in the marine environment. Over 50,000 

automated observations are submitted per year through the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Voluntary Observing Ships scheme. NOAA vessels also support NOAA’s NDBC in 

recovery of buoys that have been disabled or gone adrift.

NOAA supports a broad range of meteorological activities and projects with its fleet of aircraft, 

based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Three of its nine aircraft are dedicated to 

this purpose throughout the year, providing valuable information to NOAA and the Nation. The 

NOAA Gulfstream, G-IV (SP) (N49RF), provides scientists with a platform for the investigation 

of processes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. With an operating ceiling of 

45,000 ft, the G-IV is a critical tool for obtaining the data necessary to improve hurricane track 

forecasts and for research leading to improvements in hurricane intensity forecasts. 

The NOAA G-IV annually supports hurricane synoptic surveillance missions; the aircraft flies in 

the environment surrounding the storm at a high altitude, releasing Global Positioning System 

(GPS)–equipped dropsondes at preselected locations. The data from these vertical atmospheric 

soundings are received, processed, and transmitted from the aircraft to a NOAA NCEP computer site, where they are incorporated into computer models of hurricanes to improve hurricane 

track forecasts. Each dropsonde directly measure temperature, pressure, and humidity at the 

rate of two samples per second as it falls through the atmosphere to the surface and computes 

wind speed and wind direction at a rate of four samples per second, using a full-up GPS receiver. Recent estimates of the improvement in hurricane track predictions utilizing this technology 

show an improvement of between 20 and 30 percent, which represents a savings of $10 million 

or more per hurricane in warning and preparedness costs. 

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Two NOAA WP-3D Lockheed Orion aircraft (N42RF and N43RF) support NOAA's atmospheric 

and oceanographic research, as well as its tropical storm and hurricane reconnaissance operations. The aircraft’s research and navigation systems provide detailed spatial and temporal observations of a wide range of atmospheric and oceanic parameters. NOAA’s Aircraft Operations 

Center (AOC) develops and calibrates specialized instruments, installs and integrates usersupplied instrumentation into the aircraft and data network, and processes data for immediate 

satellite transmission or future analysis. The NOAA WP-3D aircraft, while executing the complex 

flight patterns required for hurricane research, also provide storm data to the NHC in real time, 

transmitting flight level data and GPS dropsonde messages, as well as radar images transmitted via their multiple aircraft-satellite data links. The stepped frequency microwave radiometers 

(SFMR) on the NOAA WP-3D are used to map the surface wind fields in and around hurricanes 

and tropical storms. Real-time surface wind speed maps are critical to providing more accurate 

forecasts of the extent of hurricane and tropical storm force winds. 

During each hurricane season, the two NOAA WP-3Ds support several major research experiments in support of NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division (HRD) of NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories in its Intensity Forecast Experiment (IFEX), an ongoing 

program studying hurricane genesis, rapid intensification, and other related experiments. A 

promising part of this research effort is the collaboration with NOAA’s EMC in a program to obtain three-dimensional horizontal wind fields in developing tropical systems and hurricanes, utilizing the Tail Doppler Radars of the WP-3D aircraft. The objective of this effort is to obtain data 

that can be assimilated into the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model 

for the purpose of improving hurricane intensity forecasts. Extensive descriptions of the various 

hurricane research experiments may be found in the HRD Field Program Plan for 2012. 

The NOAA WP-3D aircraft annually participate in both summer and winter operations supporting 

the NESDIS satellite validation program. Operating in regions of high winds and heavy precipitation, one of the WP-3Ds, equipped with microwave scatterometers and radiometers, provides 

under-flight validation of the ocean surface wind vectors sensed by the European ASCAT and 

Indian OceanWind2 satellites. Traditional venues for these satellite validation operations are 

Alaska or Newfoundland in the winter and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions during the summer hurricane season.

These versatile aircraft also support international and interagency projects. Prior to the start of 

the 2014 Hurricane season, NOAA Aircraft Operations Center, working with the Mexican Navy, 

Air Force, CONAGUA, the National Hurricane Center (NHC), and the U.S. Embassy, established an agreement that would allow NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft to base out of Mexican 

Navy and Air Force facilities for hurricane reconnaissance tasking for eastern Pacific storms. In 

October, 2014, N43RF successfully completed a detachment to La Paz, Mexico, in support of 

NHC tasked missions on Hurricane Simon. This relationship allows NHC to further investigate 

these storms and provide watches and warnings for eastern Pacific hurricanes.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Basic 

Meteorological Services

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a long-term partner with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for building and launching the U.S. Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) and Geostationary Operational Environmental 

Satellite (GOES) civilian weather satellites, under reimbursable arrangements. Additionally, after 

the termination of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System 

(NPOESS) Program, NASA took on the role of the acquisition agency for the NOAA-funded 

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Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Program. Several missions, including the Ocean Surface 

Topography Mission (OSTM) and Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP), are 

NASA research missions that were developed in partnership with NOAA and are now being operated by NOAA as part of the operational weather system. Jason-3 – which was funded by 

NOAA, implemented by NASA, and launched successfully in January of 2016 – is a follow-on to 

the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, and OSTM series. In the President’s FY 2015 budget request, 

NASA assumed responsibility for the sustained climate measurements such as total solar irradiance, vertical ozone profiles, and Earth’s radiation budget in the JPSS-2 (2021) timeframe. Additionally, the President’s FY 2016 budget request transferred responsibility from NOAA to 

NASA for the completion and launch of the TSIS-1 instrument to the ISS, as well as the development and operation of the next mission in the ocean altimetry series, Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS). In FY 2017, NASA will continue to execute its responsibilities regarding the 

development and launch of reimbursable partnered missions.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

Interagency Collaborative Research Programs and Projects 

The National Earth System Prediction Capability 

The National Earth System Prediction Capability (ESPC) is an ongoing collaborative project 

among the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Navy, U.S. Air 

Force, Dept. of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the 

National Science Foundation (NSF). 

The National ESPC program (http://espc.oar.noaa.gov/) will provide a more accurate global 

ocean and atmospheric forecast system with longer skillful forecast times at synoptic, subseasonal, seasonal, and inter-annual scales through integrating and coupling global atmosphere, ocean, ice, land and near-space forecast models into an operational suite of prediction 

systems that reduce errors relative to current modeling approaches. Additionally, it will continue 

to develop a national common modeling architecture to improve cross-agency collaboration, 

emphasizing more efficient computational architectures to allow real-time high-resolution operational prediction at these extended time scales. In FY 2017, predictability demonstration plans 

will be refined, and science workshops and early benchmark testing will be conducted. The - 

program goal is to advance skillful forecasts (relative to climatology) from the operational capability, currently 7-10 days, to 30 days and subseasonal. Follow-on program goals include coordinated interagency predictions and projections at the subdecadal and decadal time scales.

The United States Weather Research Program 

The Hydrometeorological Testbed (HMT). The NOAA USWRP has invested in research and 

transition of research to applications to improve quantitative precipitation forecasts through NOAA’s HMT (http://hmt.noaa.gov/), led by the Physical Sciences Division (PSD) of NOAA/OAR/Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL). The HMT seeks to improve regional precipitation forecasts, particularly for heavy, flooding rains. This support continued as the HMT 

moved from the West Coast to set up a pilot field program in the southeast United States. This 

project was operated in collaboration with OAR’s ESRL, National Severe Storms Laboratory 

(NSSL), and NWS’s Hydrometeorological Prediction Center. In FY 2014, NASA and NOAA began their initial collaborative phase of the long-term HMT-Southeast Pilot Studies (HMT-SEPS) 

effort in central and southwestern North Carolina. 

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The NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) Ground Validation program received collaborative efforts from NOAA via measurements and instrumentation to measure the 

size distribution of precipitation and rain rates for the successful NASA GPM Olympic Mountains 

Experiment (OLYMPEX) held November 2015-January 2016 in the Olympic Mountains in Washington. OLYMPEX was one of the most comprehensive campaigns for GPM, validating rain and 

snow measurements in midlatitude frontal systems moving from ocean to coast to mountains. 

OLYMPEX observations are being used to determine how remotely sensed measurements of 

precipitation by GPM can be applied to a range of hydrologic, weather forecasting and climate 

data. During FY 2016, combined science analysis and hydrologic modeling occurred using 

NASA GPM and NOAA HMT measurements from the Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology 

Experiment (IPHEX), held May-June 2014 in North Carolina. In addition, GPM ground validation 

relies heavily upon NOAA’s Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system developed by the National Severe Storms Laboratory. MRMS provides fine temporal and spatial scale ground based radar products that can then be averaged over a satellite footprint for the purposes of direct validation of GPM satellite precipitation products. In FY 2017, validation work will continue as GPM 

approaches its End-of-Prime Mission Review and Senior Review in the spring of 2017. GPM 

precipitation product algorithm versions will also be updated from Version 04 to Version 05. 

Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) infrastructure development. In FY 

2015, NASA contributed a high-resolution “nature run” to the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA), which became a baseline data set for OSSE systems. In FY 2016 and beyond, this nature run is continuing to be a fundamental data set for use at OSSE testbed and 

other OSSE activities including the GPS Radio Occultation (GPSRO) and Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate-2 (COSMIC-2) OSSE efforts at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). NASA held an OSSE workshop in June 

2016 to identify the gaps and develop a roadmap for an OSSE system that might support instrument trade studies and mission design decisions. Three types of OSSEs were discussed: 

(1) OSSE for observation impact on weather forecast skills, (2) OSSE for understanding mission 

requirements to constrain climate sensitivities, and (3) OSSE for mission designs especially for 

satellite constellations.

Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation 

The Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) is a U.S. partnership between NOAA, 

NASA, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force dedicated to developing and improving our ability 

to exploit satellite data more effectively in environmental analyses and forecast models. The 

JCSDA is a collaborative effort that allows the development and testing of techniques required 

to assimilate the billions of satellite observations available daily to be shared by several agencies. This effort would otherwise be duplicated across the agencies.

The JCSDA has the following goals: (1) Reduce the average time for operational implementation of data from new satellite sensors to less than one year, (2) Increase the use and impact of 

current satellite data in numerical weather prediction models, (3) Advance common data assimilation infrastructure and methods, and (4) Assess the impacts of data from advanced satellite 

sensors on environmental predictions. By meeting these goals, the JCSDA achieves its objective of maximizing the nation’s return on its investment in global observing systems and modeling, and providing improvements to the U.S. forecasting system (civilian and military), which in 

turn contributes to protecting citizens lives and property and the nation’s global interests. Priorities for the JCSDA in FY17 include successful exploitation of new research (Global Precipitation 

Measurement, Soil Moisture Active Passive, Rapidscat, Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite 

System, etc.) and operational (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - R Series and 

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Joint Polar Satellite System) satellites, improving the use of cloud-affected satellite data and 

Atmospheric Wind Vector observations, and expanding a standing observation system impact 

assessment capability.

Wind Forecast Improvement Projects (WFIP 1 and WFIP 2)

The Wind Forecasting Improvement Project in Complex Terrain (WFIP 2) began in FY 2015 and 

will build on the efforts of the first Wind Forecasting Improvement Project (WFIP 1) which was 

completed in FY 2014. For WFIP 1, wind energy companies shared meteorological observations 

collected on tall towers and wind turbines on wind farms with NOAA, who used the data for 

model verification and validation, as well as assimilation into its advanced, rapidly refreshed 

weather models. NOAA and DOE have encouraged renewable energy companies to sign data 

sharing agreements under which NOAA will maintain the proprietary nature of such data, while 

using them for research and operational weather forecasts to reduce risk for the wind industry. 

WFIP 2 will develop further improvements to foundational atmospheric model physics in predicting wind ramp and day-ahead events for areas of complex terrain. WFIP 2 is a multi-year DOE 

and NOAA sponsored project done in conjunction with four DOE National Laboratories and FOA 

awardee Vaisala, Inc. WFIP 2 will focus on improving the physical understanding of atmospheric 

processes in complex terrain impacting wind industry forecasts and incorporating the new understanding into the foundational weather forecasting models. The integrated WFIP 2 team began an 18-month field campaign in FY 2016 to gather data using 56 different meteorological instruments during all four seasons in the Columbia River Gorge region of Washington and Oregon. The data will be used to assess how physical processes alter wind speeds in order to improve model forecasts at hub heights. 

Once the field campaign is completed in FY 2017, the team will work to develop physical modeling schemes or atmospheric theories that better represent physical processes and increase the 

accuracy of 0 to 15 hour wind energy forecasts with positive implications to the day ahead forecast (out 

to 45 hours) while focusing on the 

wind plant inflow. NOAA’s 13-km 

Rapid Refresh (RAP), 3-km High 

Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR), 

and 750-m HRRR nest use the 

open-source WRF model at the 

core and will be the focus of improvements to model physics at the 

mesoscale and smaller scales. Improved bridging of models across 

multiple scales is a focus of WFIP 

2. Forecast uncertainties will be 

quantified using both data and ensemble techniques. Decision support tools will be developed that 

incorporate these uncertainties to 

better communicate forecast reliability to system operators and other 

users. 

Figure 3: WFIP 2 field campaign sites for collecting data with instrumentation including DOE coastal wind profilers (purple circles), 915-MHz radar wind profilers (yellow circles), sodars (black 

diamonds), and lidars (red crosses) located near four NWS Weather Forecast Offices (red stars) within the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Service Area (green line)

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WFIP 2 follows the recently completed WFIP 1 as a second large-scale project in a growing 

number of joint agency efforts under a Memorandum of Understanding

(http://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/downloads/memorandum-understanding-weather-dependentand-oceanic-renewable-energy) on “Weather-dependent and Oceanic Renewable Energy Resources” signed by NOAA and DOE in January 2011. The agreement set up a framework for 

NOAA and DOE to work together on renewable energy modeling and forecasting.

NOAA/National Weather Service/Environmental Modeling 

Center

Continually improving the accuracy, timeliness, and accessibility to prediction services is a result of research and development (R&D), and research to operations efforts within the NWS, at 

other NOAA offices such as OAR, and externally from universities and private corporations. As 

one of the nine NCEP Centers, EMC uses advanced modeling methods developed both internally and cooperatively with universities, the international scientific community, NESDIS, OAR, 

and other government agencies. EMC is a partner in the JCSDA, which is designed to accelerate the use of research and operational satellite data in NCEP operational models. The EMC 

conducts applied research and technology transfers and publishes results in various media for 

dissemination to the world meteorological, oceanographic, and climate communities. EMC also 

participates in ongoing interactive research programs such as the Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS), NOAA’s Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP) and the 

WRF community model. Furthermore, EMC efforts in collaborative development resulted in improvements to mesoscale and global models, as well as advances in hurricane track forecasts, 

climate forecasts, and air quality forecasts.

Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS)

NWS Office of Science and Technology Integration (STI) manages the Research to Operations 

(R2O) initiative that expands and accelerates transition of research to operations to address 

growing service demands and increase the accuracy of weather forecasts through accelerated 

development and implementation of global weather prediction models, improved data assimilation techniques, and improved software architecture and system engineering. The new unified 

coupled modeling system will have the flexibility and capability to implement model component 

improvements as they are developed.

The NWS R2O initiative's five year plan is to upgrade the current operational Global Forecast 

System (GFS) to run as a unified, fully coupled Next Generation Global Prediction System 

(NGGPS) within NOAA Environmental Modeling System (NEMS) infrastructure. Using advanced 

high performance computing architectures, the system will incorporate the most recent advances in weather prediction modeling from NOAA, interagency and academic partners. Selection of 

a new dynamical core for NGGPS started from five dynamical cores that were developed by 

Navy, NCAR, NOAA/OAR and NOAA/EMC. Evaluations and testing of two remaining dynamical 

cores are in progress to make the selection in FY 2016 and the initial NGGPS implementation is 

planned for FY 2019. The main goals of NWS R2O initiative are to: 

• Implement a weather-scale, fully-coupled numerical weather prediction (NWP) system

• Extend weather forecasting to 30 days

• Improve hurricane track and intensity forecast

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NOAA/Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP) 

HFIP contributes significantly to NOAA's forecast services through improved hurricane forecast 

science and technology. Managed by NWS/STI as part of the integrated numerical model improvement program, HFIP provides the unifying organizational infrastructure and funding for 

NOAA and other agencies to coordinate the hurricane research needed to significantly improve 

guidance for hurricane track, intensity, and storm surge forecasts and accelerate the transition 

from research to operations. HFIP is in the sixth year of its mission to reduce track and intensity 

errors, increase the probability of detection and decrease the false alarm ratio for rapid intensification and extend the lead-time for hurricane forecasts out to seven days. HFIP developed a 

high-performance computing system housed at the NOAA Skaggs Building in Boulder, Colorado 

to support the significant computational demands of such an approach. With the computational 

infrastructure, HFIP focuses multi-organizational activities to research, develop, demonstrate 

and implement enhanced operational modeling capabilities, dramatically improving the numerical forecast guidance made available to National Hurricane Center (NHC). 

HFIP’s structured approach accelerates bringing promising technologies and techniques from 

the research community into operations. In particular, HFIP has successfully

• aligned focused research efforts within NOAA and with NOAA’s interagency and academic 

partners;

• established a process to leverage outside research capabilities in support of project objectives (Federally funded grantees working within a community code repository);

• defined and implemented a solution (the seasonal, real-time experimental forecast system) 

to accelerate research into operational products; and

• established a high performance computing infrastructure and attendant protocols to support 

research-to-operations activities.

NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information 

Service

Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR)

As the primary science arm of NESDIS, STAR provides leadership for NESDIS research, development, validation, and maintenance of satellite-derived products and applications from NOAA’s 

operational geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites and from many non-NOAA research and 

international satellites. STAR develops new environmental applications, techniques, and algorithms for transforming raw satellite observations into scientifically meaningful, quality–assured, 

and calibrated environmental measurements and products. STAR also develops the preoperational computer codes to implement these products. STAR supports the calibration and 

validation of all satellite sensors used in NOAA’s satellite operations and develops methods and 

maintains systems for inter-calibrating NOAA satellite data with other satellites in the international constellation of research and operational satellites. STAR collaborates with other NESDIS 

and NOAA offices, universities, NASA and other U.S. agencies, and international organizations 

on exchange and evaluation of operational and research satellite data and products. The Joint 

Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA)—collocated with STAR and the NWS Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction 

(NCWCP)—is a joint distributed center sponsored by NOAA, NASA, and Departments of the 

Navy and Air Force. In addition to STAR, the NOAA partners include the Office of Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Research (OAR) Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) 

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and the National Weather Service’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The 

JCSDA was established in 2001 to accelerate and improve the quantitative use of research and 

operational satellite data in weather, ocean, climate, and environmental analysis and prediction 

systems. JCSDA research and development directly supports NOAA and DoD in their operational environmental prediction responsibilities. 

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

The OAR Research Laboratories and Programs conduct an integrated program of research, 

technology development, and services to improve the understanding of the Earth’s atmosphere 

and to describe and predict changes occurring to it. OAR programs, laboratories and their field 

stations are located across the country. Scientists study, monitor and model atmospheric, oceanic and other processes that affect weather, air quality, water resources, and climate. By researching Earth’s atmospheric system, OAR improves the understanding of weather and intense events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, extreme precipitation, and severe 

thunderstorms in addition to seasonal droughts, and the effects of the changing climate on 

these events. OAR integrates these findings into environmental information products for weather support for forecast operations, disaster preparedness, emergency response and management, transportation safety and efficiency, renewable energy production, and other sectors of 

the economy affected by weather. These products improve critical weather and climate tools 

used by the private sector, government agencies, decision-makers, and the public.

OAR Laboratories and Programs 

Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) 

ARL supports basic meteorological products and services through research and development in 

atmospheric dispersion, air quality, and boundary layer science. Primary research activities and 

programs are 1) using the ARL-developed Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model to track the transport, dispersion and fate of harmful chemicals and materials; 2) providing the Real-time Environmental Applications and Display sYstem (READY) that 

allows users to access and display meteorological data and run trajectory and dispersion model 

products based on the HYSPLIT model on ARL's web server; 3) improving air quality forecasting models to address health issues associated with ground-level ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for NOAA and other researchers; and 4) designing, developing, and deploying meteorological and turbulence instrumentation for use on land and in the air. 

In FY17, ARL will:

• Continue to develop and apply the HYSPLIT model to track and forecast, the release of radioactive material, volcanic ash, dust, and wildfire smoke, and other hazardous materials. 

ARL will continue to provide HYSPLIT-Mercury assessments for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. 

• ARL scientists will continue developing the inline meteorology-dispersion approach for complex terrain, use ensembles to assess model uncertainty, and utilize source attribution techniques for a variety dispersion applications. Deliver to NWS a forecasting system tailored for 

global chemical transport model coupling capable of tracking smoke and dust plumes originating from outside the continental US.

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• Continue to develop applications using small Unmanned Arial Systems to help understand 

the formation, intensity, structure and path characteristics of tornadoes as well as to examine additional meteorological phenomena.

• Continue work with NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration to make needed improvements to the integrated HYSPLIT-CAMEO/Aloha modeling system for short- and long-range 

atmospheric transport applications.

• Continue the development of a five- year re-analysis dataset, generated using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality model, to address O3 and PM2.5 for the benefit of the air quality 

and climate research communities. Generate a new forecast product using data from the 

Joint Polar Satellite System to link ocean isoprene emissions to changes in ozone and aerosols that affect air quality and climate. 

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)

AOML conducts mission oriented scientific research that seeks to understand the physical, 

chemical, and biological characteristics and processes of the ocean and atmosphere, both separately and as a coupled system. The Laboratory's research themes (oceans and climate, 

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/research/ocean_climate.html; coastal ecosystems, 

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/research/coastal_ecosystems.html; and hurricanes and tropical meteorology, http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/research/hurricanes.html) employ a cross-disciplinary approach, conducted through collaborative interactions with national and international research 

and environmental forecasting institutions. The work also provides reliable information based on 

oceanic and atmospheric measurements and analysis. 

AOML scientists study atmospheric and oceanic processes that affect tropical cyclones, tornadoes, rainfall (drought), and climate impacts on weather. In addition to research, AOML serves 

as the operational data center for several programs that directly improve weather services 

through providing in situ observations from Argo profiling floats, surface drifters and the Pirata 

Northeast Extension. Research includes improved understanding and application development 

surrounding physical processes like the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena, 

North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), tropical Atlantic variability, the Meridional Overturning Cell, 

wind-driven gyres in the Atlantic, the global carbon cycle, and other climatically-relevant atmospheric compounds. Of particular note includes AOML research into tropical Cyclones and ocean 

observing technologies.

Ocean Observing Technologies

In addition to the many weather-related observing systems, AOML is dedicated to improving the 

development, deployment, and monitoring of oceanographic-related observing technologies and 

related data in support of meteorology forecasts. As part of this effort, AOML collaborates with 

the National Weather Service to gather and transmit in real-time marine weather observations 

from ship-based observations. The AMVER SEAS 2K is a real-time ship and environmental data 

acquisition and transmission system (developed and support by AOML), reports atmospheric 

and oceanographic data from Ship of Opportunity Program. AOML also manages, in partnership 

with the Climate Program Office, the Global Drifter Program, the Argo profiling float data assembly center, and the XBT data assembly center that provide real-time oceanic observations 

to help improve weather forecast models.

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Tropical Cyclone Research

To improve tropical cyclone track and intensity forecast guidance, AOML’s Hurricane Research 

Division (HRD) uses in situ and remotely sensed data collected by aircraft, satellites, and buoys 

and computer model simulations of the inner core of tropical cyclones and their surrounding environment. An aircraft field program is used to gather datasets representing all stages of the 

storm’s lifecycle; these datasets are used to both support operational needs and provide the 

cornerstone of HRD’s research to advance the understanding and prediction of tropical cyclones. The observations are primarily collected during the hurricane season using two NOAA 

turboprop aircraft and a Gulfstream-IV jet operated by NOAA’s AOC. 

HRD’s major objectives are the assimilation and evaluation of the new G-IV tail Doppler radar 

observations to improve forecast guidance, evaluation of the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft 

systems (UAS) observations to improve forecast guidance in collaboration with the NASA Hurricane Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) program, and collecting observations specifically to evaluate 

the atmospheric and oceanic boundary layer physical parameterizations used in NOAA’s operational Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model. As part of the OAR Sandy 

Supplemental supported research activities, HRD will evaluate and assess the benefits of using 

new and emerging observing technologies consisting of aircraft-deployed low altitude UAS and 

Doppler wind lidar (DWL) profiling systems to improve forecast guidance through evaluation of 

and improvements to the physical parameterization routines used in HWRF.

HRD is also the principal OAR component of NOAA’s Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project 

(HFIP). Begun in 2009, the HFIP is a unified 10-year NOAA plan to improve the 1-day to 5-day 

forecasts for tropical cyclone activity, with a focus on rapid intensity change. Researchers at 

HRD, together with 2-3 researchers at OAR’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), 

5-6 researchers at ESRL, and 5-6 researchers at NCEP/EMC make up the NOAA core capability for hurricane R&D and play a major role in the HFIP. The objectives of the HFIP are to coordinate hurricane-related R&D within the NOAA entities mentioned above and to broaden their 

interactions with the outside research community in order to address NOAA’s operational hurricane forecast needs. 

In support of OAR’s Sandy Supplemental supported High Impact Weather Prediction Project 

(HIWPP), HRD is collaborating with NCEP/EMC to accelerate the development of a fully twoway interactive moving nested, multi scale, non-hydrostatic modeling system based on EMCdeveloped Nonhydrostatic Multiscale Model on B-grid (NMM-B) in the NOAA Environmental 

Modeling System (NEMS) framework. Multiple HWRF-like nests will be designed to operate at 

about 3 km resolution within a basin-scale and global version of NMM-B to capture tropical cyclone inner core process and interactions with the large-scale environment, critical for improving 

track, intensity, rainfall and size predictions.

Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

At NOAA’s largest research facility, the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), scientists 

(from four complementary divisions) study and monitor atmospheric and other processes that 

affect weather, air quality, water resources, and climate. By researching the dynamic Earth system, ESRL improves understanding of what causes today’s weather, next month’s hurricanes, 

next season’s drought, and next century’s climate. ESRL integrates these findings into environmental information products ranging from weather support for aviation and emergency management, to methods that improve critical weather and climate tools used by the private sector, 

government agencies, decision-makers, and the public. ESRL research is so comprehensive 

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that it is impossible to give each program or project equal mention. The following description 

highlights a very small portion of products and services provided by ESRL.

ESRL provides long-term, high quality observations of atmospheric composition that are critical 

for understanding changes in the Earth system. These observations are used worldwide by scientists studying climate, air quality, and ozone-depletion. They form the core of international observing systems and are critical for delivering updates of key products such as CarbonTracker, 

the NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (a national climate indicator), methane climatologies, 

CO2 trends (daily updates; a national climate indicator), the Ozone-Depleting Gas Index, GlobalView, and other long-term atmospheric composition data sets and products. They are used to 

set standards for GCOS, GEOSS, and WMO Global Atmosphere Watch. These observations 

stem from 6 global baseline observatories, ESRL-operated observing networks for stratospheric 

and tropospheric ozone, aerosols, surface radiation, ozone-depleting gases, and greenhouse 

gases, and a system of tall towers and aircraft observations across North America. 

ESRL carries out process studies which improve understanding of the physics and dynamics 

associated with weather and other atmospheric phenomena. In FY17, the ESRL Physical Sciences Division (PSD) will lead a cross-NOAA El Niño Rapid Response Field Campaign , an unprecedented scientific opportunity to accelerate advances in understanding and predictions of 

an extreme climate event and its impacts.. In FY16, ESRL scientists will use the unique measurements of the initial response of response of the atmosphere to the warm ocean water at the 

heart of the very strong El Niño collected during the rapid response field campaign to learn more 

about chain of events which produce, extreme precipitation on the West Coast and many other 

impacts. Evaluations of the impact of the observations on realtime operational forecasts and 

how well weather and climate forecast models represent and predict the making of the resulting 

extreme events will occur. All of this research will result in presentations at international scientific meetings, such as those sponsored by AGU and AMS , and peer-reviewed publications. 

The data gathered will support research over the next 5 to 10 years to improve the weather 

forecast modeling of extremes, and climate modeling of seasonal and longer forecasts of El Niño impacts.

The ESRL Global Systems Division (GSD) leads the design, development, testing, and delivery 

of accurate and reliable weather forecast system solutions. GSD’s work supports decisionmaking in NOAA, NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS), the Federal Aviation Administration, government emergency managers, and the transportation and renewable energy industries. 

GSD is a world leader in numerical weather prediction and developed both the hourly Rapid Refresh (RAP) and the High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) weather prediction models used in 

NWS operations. These models provide frequent snapshot forecasts of hazardous weather including flash floods, winter weather, and thunderstorms that could produce a tornado. New versions of the RAP and HRRR weather models with advanced capabilities will be implemented 

into operations in June 2016. GSD also uses its expertise in physics, data assimilation, modeling, and verification to support the Next-Generation Global Prediction System initiative to build 

the foundation for the next NWS global forecast guidance system.

GSD develops, tests, and evaluates forecast and decision support systems to give forecasters, 

and air traffic and emergency managers, timely and accurate hazard information. The cornerstone of each NWS Forecast Office is the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System 

(AWIPS) originally developed by GSD. GSD continues to work with the NWS and the private 

sector to improve AWIPS. The prototype Integrated Support for Impacted Air Traffic Environments (INSITE) tool uses weather forecasts to identify hazardous weather that could impact air 

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traffic routes. NWS forecasters can use INSITE to inform FAA Air Traffic managers about potential weather hazards so they can re-route air traffic. INSITE will transition to operations in 2017.

GSD identifies, investigates and develops high-performance computing methods and innovative 

visualization systems. The Science On a Sphere® (SOS) global display system uses computers 

and video projectors to display animated earth science datasets on the outside of a six-foot diameter sphere. The SOS is an education tool which explains Earth system science in an intuitive and captivating way to people of all ages. In late FY15, GSD released SOS ExplorerTM, a 

downloadable flat screen version to provide teachers and students with visualizations of over 

500 Science On a Sphere® datasets and movies for use in their own classrooms 

(http://www.sos.noaa.gov/SOS_Explorer/). An SOS Explorer exhibit just made its debut at a local museum where visitors controlled the data display with an iPad. There are plans to produce 

more SOS Explorer exhibits for expanded outreach.

ESRL/Chemical Sciences Division research provides a scientific basis for efforts to improve air 

quality, and will continue to monitor long-lived gases in Earth’s changing atmosphere to advance understanding of climate-related effects of short-lived pollutants, atmospheric particles, 

and their interactions with clouds. Additionally ESRL will continue collaboration with 

USDA/USFS to identify and quantify emissions of gases and aerosols from burning of different 

biomass materials for improvement of forecast models that provide air quality information to the 

public and to responders on-scene at wildland fires. They will continue participation in the Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network (TOLNet) to further understanding of processes in the atmospheric boundary layer that affect ozone and aerosols.

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)

The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) mission is to advance scientific understanding of climate and its natural and anthropogenic variations and impacts, and improve NOAA’s predictive capabilities, through the development and use of world-leading computer models of the Earth System. GFDL scientists focus on model-building relevant for society, such as 

hurricane research, prediction, and seasonal forecasting, and understanding global and regional 

climate change. GFDL research encompasses the predictability and sensitivity of global and 

regional climate; the structure, variability, dynamics and interaction of the atmosphere and the 

ocean; and the ways that the atmosphere and oceans influence, and are influenced by various 

trace constituents. The scientific work of the Laboratory incorporates a variety of disciplines including meteorology, oceanography, hydrology, classical physics, fluid dynamics, chemistry, 

applied mathematics, and numerical analysis. 

Research at GFDL improves our understanding of atmospheric circulations, ranging in scale 

from hurricanes to extratropical storms and the general circulation, with an emphasis on extreme weather events and the interplay between weather phenomena and climate variability and 

change at regional scales. High-resolution atmospheric models with comprehensive treatment 

of physical processes are central tools in this work. 

Ongoing research will continue to explore a potential breakthrough in predicting seasonal hurricane activity: atmospheric models forced with observed SST can skillfully predict the interannual 

variability of the number of hurricanes in the Atlantic, showing that the random part of this annual Atlantic hurricane frequency (the part not predictable given the SSTs) is relatively small. Identifying the processes that are key to determining tropical cyclone frequency may allow us to extend dynamical forecast lead-time toward one year. GFDL will also continue to improve statistical methods for using coupled climate models to develop long-lead-time forecasts of seasonal 

hurricane activity, and experimental forecasts will continue to be updated on GFDL’s website. 

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Even longer lead-time predictions are targeted through a vigorous research program on decadal 

variability, predictability, and predictions. At the heart of that program are efforts to better understand physical processes that contribute to decadal variations and predictability in the climate 

system, particularly in terms of the role of the ocean as a driver of decadal-scale variations. 

Augmenting this research are decadal hindcast and prediction experiments yielding modelproduced “predictions” for each year from 1961 to 2011. The ongoing analysis of these simulations seeks to evaluate whether predictive skill for near-term (decadal) climate forecasts is increased when starting from the observed state of the climate system, in addition to the predictive skill that arises from changing radiative forcing. Preliminary assessments of the predictive 

skill in these simulations reveal that they have skill that is at least comparable to other international efforts. 

Complementing this effort is research to improve our understanding of the interactive threedimensional radiative-dynamical-chemical-hydrological structure of the climate system, from the 

surface and troposphere to the upper stratosphere and mesosphere, on various time and space 

scales. Continued research in FY16 will focus on a better understanding of the response of 

global and regional climate to natural and anthropogenic aerosol emissions. GFDL’s worldleading high-resolution models use the very latest numerical techniques to provide extremely 

energetic, realistic simulations of the climate system. Through their use in FY16, GFDL seeks to 

further scientific understanding of the role of the ocean and atmospheric constituents in climate 

variability and change, on regional to global scales. This research continues to exploit NOAA’s 

high performance computing capability housed at DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Despite the relatively high computational cost, GFDL scientists believe it is critical to move to regional-scale high-resolution climate models to better understand the causes and predictability of 

decadal-scale climate fluctuations, as well as the role of the ocean in critical climate change issues, such as oceanic heat uptake.

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) develops and operates technology for scientific observations in the Great Lakes ecosystem. GLERL scientists acquire the data 

and develop information needed to improve our understanding of the Great Lakes ecosystem 

and support decision-making for improved resource management. Advancements in areas such 

as remote sensing, the miniaturization of sensors, and other data-gathering technologies have 

vastly increased the data gathering capacity of the scientific community. Additionally, GLERL 

tests and applies models for predicting the effects of natural and human-generated changes on 

the Great Lakes environment. Modeling of the atmosphere, lakes, seasonal changes in ice cover, and the ecosystem dynamics of the lakes adds to our understanding of how the Great Lakes 

basin changes over the course of months and years. GLERL research on regional climate projections is based on atmospheric and coupled hydrodynamics-ice-ecosystem models. Research 

tools are designed to examine the effects of climate on regional air temperature, precipitation, 

water levels, lake temperature and thermal structure, ice cover, and ecological changes and 

trends.

In FY 17, priorities for GLERL include continuing research, development, and transfer of remote 

sensing products from the Great Lakes CoastWatch Node. GLERL will focus on satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) ice 

classification and mapping. GLERL will also focus on continued data collection and analysis for 

the advancement of ice-ocean ecosystem modeling in the Artic. GLERL’s hydrologic modeling 

program will advance the GLERL hydrometeorological database, improve Great Lakes basin 

runoff and evaporation estimates, and continue to enhance the Great Lakes hydroclimate dash2-37
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

board. GLERL will continue efforts on regional climate projection impact assessment and historic trends analysis. GLERL will assess the similarity and differences between model runs from 

the Coupled Hydrosphere-Atmosphere Research Model (CHARM) with model runs from other 

GCMs. GLERL will continue to develop and validate modeling systems that contribute directly to 

projection of the overall water budget and levels of the Great Lakes, as well as enhances understanding of relevant climate change processes on a regional scale. 

National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

The mission of the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) consists both of conducting fundamental research to advance our knowledge and understanding of meteorological processes 

associated with severe convective storms, as well as applied research and development leading to 

the transition of new and improved tools and techniques for observation, analysis, and prediction to the NWS and other stakeholders. These efforts are aimed at improving the accuracy and 

lead-time of severe weather forecasts and warnings, lending support to a Weather-Ready Nation that is resilient in the face of increasing vulnerability to severe and disruptive weather. In 

particular, NSSL seeks to improve the accuracy and timeliness of forecasts and warnings of severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, flash floods, lightning, mixed precipitation in winter storms, 

and their societal impacts. Advancements in observing system capabilities and physical understanding of processes that produce hazardous convective weather are core to NSSL’s fundamental research. NSSL provides leadership in the understanding of storm structure, processes, 

and evolution, and the use of polarimetric radar observations to understand the interrelationships among microphysics, dynamics, electrification, and lightning activity across a broad spectrum of convective storms.

NSSL’s research for the next decade is focused around six “grand scientific challenges” representing challenging, yet resolvable and societally-important problems. Specifically, NSSL scientists are seeking to attain the goal of the Warn-on-Forecast program in providing NWS forecasters with guidance needed to extend lead-times for severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings 

out to one hour with substantially reduced false alarms. Second, WSR- 88D capabilities will be 

enhanced by addressing this aging operational radar technology, its current gaps in radar coverage, and longstanding limits of tornado lead time with high false alarm rates. A major emphasis in this challenge is to advance Phased Array Radar technologies for high-impact weather 

events. Third, NSSL is developing capabilities to reliably predict flash flooding for urban and 

complex landscapes several hours in advance, and providing probabilistic hydrologic predictions 

with longer lead times and greater accuracy than current systems. Fourth, NSSL research 

seeks to demonstrate that useful warnings of lightning activity can be predicted one hour in advance from the very onset of convection to its demise, both in-cloud (as an indicator of storm 

intensity changes and short-term predictor of severe weather potential) and cloud-to-ground 

lightning (for public safety and aviation concerns). Fifth, our plans are to develop a reliable nowcasting system for convection initiation that goes well beyond the current reliance on surface, 

radar and satellite detection of low-level boundaries, so as to address fundamental gaps in our 

understanding of how the pre-convective environment is evolving. Finally, NSSL will provide uncertainty information for high impact weather to reduce tornado and other severe weather warning false alarms significantly and provide the public with probabilistic, risk-based information to 

replace current “binary” yes/no warning areas. This is needed to greatly improve public decision-making to attain a better-informed Weather-Ready Nation that is resilient to dangerous, 

high-impact weather events.

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Office of Weather and Air Quality

NOAA’s Office of Weather and Air Quality (OWAQ) improves weather and air chemistry forecast 

information and products by funding, facilitating, and coordinating research, as well as supports 

the transition of research results into operations. By working with scientists and academic partners, this research is transitioned into useful weather applications, watches and warnings to protect the lives and property of the American public and inform weather-sensitive U.S. industry. 

OWAQ provides outreach, linkages, and coordination between NOAA, other Government agencies, academia, the private sector, and non-profit research partnerships, particularly NOAA’s 

Cooperative Institutes and Cooperative Science Centers. OWAQ additionally supports social 

science studies to test research results that improve communication during dangerous weather 

situations. 

In FY17, OWAQ will continue supporting projects through the U.S. Weather Research Program 

(USWRP) to improve high-impact weather and air quality forecasting and also improve NOAA’s 

global modeling system from days to months through the National ESPC project. Currently, 

OWAQ is also funding Research to Operations (R2O) under USWRP Research to Operations 

(USWRP-R2O) and Joint Technology Transfer Initiative (JTTI) to transition matured weather 

research from the American weather enterprise into National Weather Service operations.

OWAQ will continue to support testbeds, high-resolution numerical model, and National Water 

Model improvements to enable better high-impact weather forecasts, including tropical cyclones, extreme precipitation, flash floods and severe thunderstorms. In FY17, OWAQ will compete and fund the next round of two-year testbed projects in the Hazardous Weather Testbed, 

the Hydrometeorology Testbed, and the Joint Hurricane Testbed. This is a continuation of the 

testbed program funded by USWRP that is currently supporting 18 two-year research-tooperations projects at universities in these three testbeds. 

In addition, air quality modeling research will contribute to improving National Weather Service 

smoke, dust, and volcanic ash predictions. Five new one-to-three year air quality research and 

forecasting projects were funded in FY16 at universities and private companies that will improve 

air quality forecasting capabilities in the NWS. OWAQ will also fund social science research that 

helps to understand how society uses and interprets weather information and how to improve 

the communication of weather information to the public.

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL)

Meteorological research at PMEL focuses on air-sea interaction research in the Gulf of Alaska 

Bering Sea, and Chukchi Sea, as part of PMEL’s Ecosystem-Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations (EcoFOCI) project, conducted jointly with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service/Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Financial support for the research is provided by 

NOAA, NSF, the North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), and the DOI/Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM).

PMEL’s ocean climate research programs collect surface meteorological data from moored 

buoys and report in near-real time for ingest into global models. Data from PMEL’s PIRATA and 

RAMA tropical observing systems in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and from PMEL’s ocean 

climate stations at Ocean Weather Station Papa (Gulf of Alaska) and the Kuroshio Extension 

Observatory in the Northwest Pacific report surface meteorological data.

PMEL conducts research on atmospheric aerosols and their impact on air quality and climate. In 

2016 (November) and 2017 (May), PMEL is participating in NAAMES (North Atlantic Aerosols 

and Marine Ecosystems) research cruises. NAAMES is a multi-platform, interdisciplinary inves2-39
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

tigation focused on marine ecosystems and aerosol properties in the climate sensitive North Atlantic. NAAMES will study the annual life cycle of phytoplankton and the impact small airborne 

particles derived from marine organisms have on climate in the North Atlantic. PMEL will make 

shipboard measurements to characterize the emission, properties, and cloud nucleating ability 

of sea spray aerosol over a range of ocean conditions and seasons.

NASA Supporting Research for Basic Meteorological Services

Research in Basic Meteorology and Atmospheric Science

NASA-sponsored research continues to gain new insight into weather and extreme-weather 

events by the utilization of data obtained from a variety of NASA and partner satellite platforms 

and field experiments. In FY 2016, data analysis was conducted for two polar winds airborne 

campaigns performed during FY 2015 to test the NASA developed wind lidar instruments in 

support of the European Space Agency (ESA) Atmospheric Dynamics Atmospheric Dynamics 

Mission Aeolus satellite (ADM-Aeolus). Further calibration/validation collaboration with ESA is 

being planned for launch of ADM-Aeolus in 2017. Also, the NASA FY 2017 budget will fund the 

second year of the Precipitation Measurement Missions (PMM) Science Team, which includes 

60 research investigations competitively selected in FY 2016 through a ROSES-2016 grant application solicitation. The new PMM Science Team addresses research in three categories: 

1. development, evaluation, and validation of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and 

GPM retrieval algorithms; 

2. development of methodologies for improved applications of satellite measurements; and 

3. use of satellite and ground measurements for physical process studies to gain a better understanding of the global water cycle, climate, and weather and concomitant improvements 

in numerical models on cloud resolving to climate scales.

Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center

NASA encourages more rapid use of NASA’s observations in operational weather predictions. 

The Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) center at NASA Marshall Space 

Flight Center is chartered to advance this research to operation transition activity. The SPoRT 

center has become NASA’s primary research and operation transition interface with the National 

Weather Service for short-term (0 to 48 hours) weather predictions. Many NASA research data 

products are tested in near real time and disseminated to NOAA’s weather forecast offices. 

NASA also funds external research proposals to collaborate with the SPoRT center to accelerate the transition of research data to at least one operational environment.

NASA continued the investment in SPoRT and the external research projects to accelerate the 

transition of research data to operational environments. As previously noted, three two-year research and development projects funded by the ROSES-13 program element “NASA Data for 

Operation and Assessment” (NDOA) have ended. In FY 2016, NASA announced another run of 

the NDOA ROSES element. NASA plans to review the proposals and makes selection in late 

summer 2016. Awarded projects will start in FY 2017.

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Basic Services

Technology Development

Technology investments are aligned with NASA's Climate Centric Architecture strategic document. A majority of the investments also are centered on the National Research Council (NRC) 

Decadal Survey1 activities, many supporting NASA’s foundational and climate continuity missions. Such investments focus on maturation of technologies to enable advanced space-based 

observations and modeling to improve understanding of the global integrated Earth system, including global and regional climate change. The Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) provides funding for instrument, component, and information technologies prior to mission formulation. Developing and validating technologies well in advance of a flight project help to improve 

acceptance and reduce costs. Projects are initiated regularly through the ROSES solicitation 

and the duration of each project is typically three years. For FY 2016, ongoing investigations are 

being managed in the Instrument Incubator, Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST), 

Advanced Component Technology, and In-space Validation of Earth Science Technology areas.

New investments were solicited in FY 2016 under the Instrument Incubator Program and Advanced Information Systems Technology areas through ROSES-2016 solicitations. Of note, in 

early FY 2015 a new radiance instrument, the HyperSpectral Imager for Climate Science (HySICS), made a successful balloon flight, collecting the most accurate solar radiance measurements (calibrated to the Sun to better than 0.2 percent radiometric accuracy) that have ever 

been made of the Earth. FY 2017 will see the selection of new awards from the AIST-ROSES2016 solicitations. The launches of three CubeSats with weather-related technologies targeted 

for the late CY 2016-early CY 2017 time period are planned as follows: 1) HARP (Hyper Angular 

Rainbow Polarimeter) is a highly accurate and precise wide field of view hyperangular polarimeter (2-4km resolution) in a three unit CubeSat for characterizing aerosol and cloud properties at 

440, 550, 660 and 870nm. 2) IceCube is a three unit CubeSat to validate a new 874-GHz radiometer for use in future ice cloud measurement missions. 3) MiRaTA (Microwave Radiometer 

Technology Acceleration) is a three unit CubeSat that will validate new microwave radiometer 

and GPS Radio Occultation (GPSRO) technology including an all-weather sounder at three 

bands: ~55 GHz (temperature), ~183 GHz (humidity), and ~207 GHz (cloud ice), and also, of 

radiometric accuracy and precision to state-of-the art levels. 

NASA Applied Sciences Program

The Applied Sciences Program leverages NASA satellite measurements and new scientific 

knowledge to enable innovative and practical uses by public and private sector organizations. 

Projects, which are competitively selected through ROSES, are designed to discover and 

demonstrate new applications and facilitate adoption by non-NASA organizations. In FY 2016, 

the Applied Sciences Program’s Health and Air Quality element funded a project to improve the 

initialization of the NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) operational air 

quality system, which is based on the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model, 

through chemical data assimilation of satellite retrieval products with the Community Gridpoint 

Statistical Interpolation (GSI) system. Additionally, the element began a project utilizing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer 

Suite (VIIRS) observations to improve the detection of K. brevis blooms along the Florida Gulf 

Coast. The project’s goal is improved daily detection of “red tide” leading to routine rapid fore1 NASA and its partners ask the NRC once each decade to look out ten or more years into the future and 

prioritize research areas, observations, and notional missions to make those observations. The last Decadal Survey was completed in 2007, entitled Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond. 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

casts that would be distributed through NOAA’s operational harmful algal blooms (HAB) forecast 

system, the National Weather Service Beach Hazards Statement, as well as county and state 

public health departments. In FY 2017, the Applied Sciences Program will continue to initiate 

projects across a range of application areas, including health and air quality, water resources, 

disasters, and ecological forecasting. The Program’s Capacity Building element sponsors programs and projects that improve the skills and capabilities of decision makers, community leaders, and resource managers in the United States and abroad related to accessing and applying 

Earth observations. NASA will continue to build such capacity through the SERVIR, DEVELOP, 

and Applied Remote SEnsing Training (ARSET) program elements. The SERVIR program is a 

joint venture between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which 

provides satellite-based Earth observation data and science applications to help developing nations in Eastern and Southern Africa, the Hindu Kush-Himalaya, the Mekong, and Mesoamerica 

to improve their environmental decision-making. In FY 2017, SERVIR will extend its work into 

West Africa. The NASA DEVELOP program fosters an interdisciplinary research environment 

for interns to work on applied science research projects with a local government partner under 

the guidance of NASA and partner science advisors. The ARSET project trains decision-makers 

and applied science professionals in the areas of water resources, disasters, health/air quality, 

land, and wildfire management to use NASA’s Earth Science observations, tools, and models to 

support their decision-making.

National Science Foundation

To improve weather forecasts and public safety, the NSF supports basic research on observational systems, analysis techniques, and understanding of phenomena. NSF awards grants to 

single investigators or small collaborative groups working on specific topics, as well as larger 

interdisciplinary groups and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. NSF also supports 

the operation of a number of systems intended for community use, such as the NSF/NCAR GV 

research aircraft and the Center for Severe Weather Research Doppler on Wheels. 

Examples of recent award 

topics related to meteorological services include boundary layer processes, tropical 

cyclone studies and improved understanding of 

winter precipitation. NSF is 

supporting the analysis of 

data collected during recent 

major field campaigns, including the 2015 Plains Elevated Convection at Night 

(PECAN) campaign. The 

FY17 budget request ramps 

up a new activity called 

PREEVENTS (Prediction of 

and Resilience against Extreme Events) which falls 

under the NSF Risk and Resilience umbrella.

Figure 4: Researchers on a mission to understand thunderstorms that 

happen at night during the Plains Elevated Convection at Night (PECAN) campaign in 2015. Credit: Dylan Reif, University of Oklahoma

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AGRICULTURAL AND LAND 

MANAGEMENT METEOROLOGICAL 

SERVICES 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Agricultural and Land Management Meteorological Services are those services and facilities established to meet the requirements of the agricultural industries and Federal, state, and local agencies charged with the protection and maintenance of the Nation's land areas. Meteorological services specifically tailored for wildland fire 

management are reported under the Wildland Fire Weather service category.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

Interagency Programs 

Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (JAWF)

In 1978, the World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) formed the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (JAWF). JAWF is 

as an operational unit, serving as an important link between the respective meteorological components of the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce. Additional information on the JAWF 

is included in the U.S. Department of Agriculture narrative below and at

http://www.usda.gov/oce/weather/.

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Office of the Chief Economist

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) 

World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB) serves as the USDA focal point for economic intelligence and commodity outlook for U.S. and world agriculture. The WAOB coordinates, reviews, 

and approves the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. The 

WASDE report provides USDA’s forecasts of supply and demand for major U.S. and global 

crops as well as U.S. livestock. The WAOB maintains the integrity of this report by ensuring all 

information used to prepare the report is consistent, objective, and reliable. Because weather 

and climate have a significant impact on agricultural production, the WAOB employs meteorologists who specialize in preparing agricultural weather assessments, the group being collectively 

referred to as OCE/WAOB’s Office of the Chief Meteorologist (OCM). 

The primary mission of OCM staff is to routinely collect global weather data and agricultural information to assess the impact of growing season weather conditions on crops and livestock 
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

production prospects, keeping USDA commodity analysts, the OCE, and the Secretary of Agriculture and top staff well informed of weather impacts on crops and livestock worldwide. These 

assessments are integrated into USDA’s monthly analytical process to develop monthly foreign 

crop estimates of area, yield, and production published in the monthly WASDE reports. In addition to providing routine agricultural weather assessments, OCM meteorologists prepare special 

assessments when extreme weather (e.g., droughts, heat waves, freezes, floods, and hurricanes) has been observed or is imminent. Alerts of anomalous weather conditions impacting 

agriculture around the globe are also routinely included in a daily report of agricultural developments that is sent to USDA policy makers each afternoon. When integrated with other data, 

these routine and special crop-weather assessments and analyses provide critical information to 

USDA decision-makers preparing crop production forecasts, formulating trade policy, and coordinating disaster relief.

While many of the group’s core functions are internal, OCM staff routinely disseminates information to the public. Each morning, a written summary of current weather affecting agriculture in 

the United States is sent to the Secretary’s office and posted on the OCE website: 

http://www.usda.gov/oce/weather/pubs/Daily/TODAYSWX.pdf. The meteorologists also routinely give public interviews, available not only through USDA’s Information Office but also private 

sector media outlets. In 2012 and 2013, for example, OCM staff played a key role in providing 

assessments of the historic drought that impacted much of the Nation’s agriculture by conducting interviews with national and international news outlets and disseminating unique products 

and assessments via the USDA homepage and blog.

In support of its mission, the OCM receives a full suite of meteorological data and products from 

the NWS for use in their assessments, including surface weather observations, radar data, satellite imagery, and model output. As part of the aforementioned JAWF agreement, the OCM 

serves as the focal point for dissemination of meteorological data and products to other USDA 

agencies, including weather data received from the Global Observing System, a worldwide network of nearly 8,000 meteorological reporting stations managed by the World Meteorological 

Organization (WMO). Additionally, the OCM obtains data from the NWS Cooperative Observer 

Program (COOP) to support domestic agricultural weather applications. In recent years, the 

NWS, National Hurricane Center (NHC), CPC, and the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center 

have supported USDA by providing an increasing number of their operational products in GIScompatible formats. These NOAA GIS efforts have benefited the OCM significantly by increasing the speed and efficiency with which agricultural weather assessments can be prepared and 

enabling analysts to more accurately assess weather impacts on agriculture.

JAWF’s flagship publication, the Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin (WWCB), is jointly produced 

by the OCM, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and NOAA/CPC. First published in 1872 as the Weekly Weather Chronicle, the publication provides a vital source of information on weather, climate, and agricultural developments worldwide. The WWCB highlights 

weekly meteorological and agricultural developments on national and international scales, via 

numerous maps, charts, tables, and text products. In total, these products provide a comprehensive illustration of the weather and climate conditions affecting agriculture, benefiting USDA 

decision makers and the agricultural community. Crop and weather information provided in the 

WWCB keeps crop and livestock producers, farm organizations, agribusinesses, state and national farm policy-makers, government agencies, and foreign buyers of agricultural products apprised of worldwide weather-related developments and their effects on crops and livestock. The 

extensive history provides a reference source that is rich in climate and agricultural information, 

which is essential for episodic-events monitoring and analog-year comparisons.

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Agricultural and Land Management Services 

Although the main emphasis of the WWCB is on current growing-season weather conditions 

and agricultural developments in the United States, real-time agricultural weather assessments 

are also provided for foreign countries that are either major exporters or importers of agricultural 

commodities. While providing timely weather and crop information relevant to the monthly Crop 

Production and WASDE reports (issued by USDA/NASS and USDA/OCE/WAOB, respectively), 

the WWCB keeps the U.S. agricultural sector apprised of weather conditions impacting agriculture in foreign markets, which could possibly influence production decisions at the farm level. 

In September 1994, the OCM published Major World Crop Areas and Climatic Profiles (Agricultural Handbook No. 664). Knowledge of historical weather and climate patterns and past agricultural production in major agricultural regions worldwide is critical to the success of JAWF’s 

agrometeorological assessments, and this reference handbook provides the framework for assessing the weather’s impact on world crop production by providing information on climate and 

crop data for key producing regions and countries. Coverage includes major agricultural regions 

and crops, including coarse grains, winter and spring wheat, rice, major oilseeds, sugar, and 

cotton. World maps show the normal developmental stage of regional crops by month. No longer issued in a paper format, an electronic version of the handbook was developed to provide 

periodic updates to the printed version as additional data become available. The Major World 

Crop Areas and Climatic Profiles book and other publications are available online at 

http://www.usda.gov/oce/weather/pubs/index.htm. 

In the summer of 1999, the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) was developed to help improve 

drought assessments in the United States. The USDM is a collaborative effort between federal 

and academic partners, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln National Drought Mitigation 

Center (NDMC), USDA, CPC, the NOAA/NESDIS/National Climatic Data Center, and the Desert Research Institute. Approximately 11 lead authors, two of whom work for the OCM, rotate 

the responsibility of preparing the USDM. Produced weekly, the USDM is a synthesis of multiple 

indices and impacts depicted on a map and in narrative form. The NDMC hosts the USDM on its 

Website at http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu. The USDM, released each Thursday at 8:30 a.m. 

Eastern time, is a key source of information for briefing USDA top staff on U.S. drought developments. In recent years, the USDM has served as a trigger mechanism for several USDA programs and, because the USDM is prepared in a GIS, it is often overlaid on agricultural data to 

illustrate and quantify the spatial extent of drought affecting various agricultural commodities 

(Figure 1). In 2013, OCE entered into a cooperative agreement with the NDMC to improve U.S. 

agricultural drought monitoring capabilities and assessments by integrating USDA agricultural 

statistics and other relevant data sets into a GIS format to improve author’s ability to incorporate 

various information types into their analytical process.

Similarly, the North American Drought Monitor (NADM) is a cooperative drought monitoring effort among drought experts in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The NADM was initiated 

at a workshop in April 2002 and is part of a larger effort to improve the monitoring of North 

American climate extremes. Issued monthly since January 2003, the NADM is based on the 

end-of-month USDM analysis and input from scientists in Canada and Mexico. Major participants in the NADM program include the USDM collaborators – two of whom are OCM staff – as 

well as Agriculture and Agrifood Canada and the National Meteorological Service of Mexico.

The NADM Website is: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/drought/nadm/index.html. 

A U.S. Drought Monitor Forum and a North American Drought Monitor Forum are held in alternating years. These meetings provide an opportunity for Drought Monitor authors, stakeholders, 

and members of the drought community to discuss the latest drought monitoring tools, drought 

analyses, and requirements. The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor Forum was held on April 13-

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

17, 2015, in Reno, Nevada, while a North American Drought Monitor Forum was recently held 

on June 21-23, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas.

Figure 1. Percent of U.S. corn area in drought, according to the May 24, 2016, U.S. Drought Monitor. 

OCE is one of several USDA agencies that have taken a lead role in the development of National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), working closely with lead Federal agency 

NOAA and the Western Governors Association (WGA) over the years to address the specific 

needs of the agricultural community. The NIDIS builds upon existing drought monitoring tools 

and experiences, such as the USDM, to develop an early warning system that aids in drought 

preparation and mitigation. Recommendations for such an early warning system were outlined 

in a 2004 report from the WGA entitled “Creating a Drought Early Warning System for the 21st

Century: The National Integrated Drought Information System.” One of the early deliverables of 

NIDIS was the Drought Portal (http://www.drought.gov), which serves as the Government’s multi-agency drought interface. The OCM is working with other USDA agencies to provide relevant 

drought information to the public via the Drought Portal. 

As a result of the aforementioned activities with the NDMC, NOAA, and other agencies and organizations, OCE is a recognized leader within the USDA in the area of drought. In December, 

2012, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between USDA and NOAA to collaborate 

on projects of mutual interest, with particular emphasis on establishing new partnerships in the 

area of drought monitoring and mitigation. OCE enjoyed a lead role in developing the agree2-46
Agricultural and Land Management Services

ment and is currently working with NOAA to develop a work plan to identify near- and long-term 

deliverables and opportunities for collaboration. In 2014, USDA announced the creation of seven Climate Hub and three Sub-Hub locations. Under the direction of OCE’s Climate Change 

Program Office, the Climate Hubs will deliver science-based knowledge, practical information 

and program support to farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, and resource managers to support decision-making related to climate change. Key partners in the networks include the public 

and land grant universities, Cooperative Extension, USDA researchers, the private sector, state, 

local and regional governments, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Department of Interior (DOI) regional climate change experts, and non-profits engaged in 

providing assistance to landowners.

Throughout its history, WAOB has successfully worked with international groups, including representatives of foreign governments and of multinational organizations. WAOB remains active in 

the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Commission for Agricultural Meteorology 

(CAgM), and a WAOB meteorologist is currently serving on the Management Group of the 

WMO CAgM, helping guide Commission efforts to improve support systems for agrometeorological services. This position helps coordinate Expert Teams responsible for reviewing the operational applications of current agrometeorological data, analytical tools, and information delivery 

systems and making recommendations on the procedures, methodologies, and resources necessary to improve the capability for operational applications. Additionally, WAOB continues to 

support the World AgroMeteorological Information Service (WAMIS), a dedicated web server 

that hosts agrometeorological bulletins and advisories issued by WMO Members for the global 

agricultural community (http://www.wamis.org/). WAOB is collaborating with other WMO Members to expand WAMIS capabilities, including the development on a web-based GIS capability 

that will dynamically integrate weather and climate information.

Risk Management Agency

The Risk Management Agency (RMA), Strategic Data Acquisition and Analyses (SDAA) unit 

works with Oregon State University’s Parameter-Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes 

Model (PRISM) Climate Group through the Center for Agribusiness Excellence (CAE), Tarleton 

State University, to produce and utilize innovative spatial climate data sets to identify and investigate potentially fraudulent crop loss claims. CAE manages RMA’s day to day operations of the 

Agency’s data mining and data warehouse operations and Oregon State University’s PRISM 

Climate Group is a leader for spatial climate analysis. It produces the USDA’s official normal 

(30-year average) data sets of temperature and precipitation for the United States, as well as 

time series of climatological variables spanning 

1895-present.

High-quality weather and climate data is a key factor in improving the integrity and efficiency of the 

Federal crop insurance program (Figure 2). Precipitation, with its high spatial variability and importance in crop production, stands out as a climate variable that, on the one hand is essential to 

estimate accurately, but on the other suffers from 

insufficient observations. Existing precipitation 

networks are not sufficiently dense to capture the 

spatial variability of precipitation, especially during 

the growing season, when convective systems 

with spotty precipitation patterns are the rule. Figure 2: Meteorological Station at South Coal, 

WY

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

Snowfall is not measured accurately by most automated systems, resulting in poor wintertime 

observations over much of the US.

The program weakness addressed by PRISM is that many crop loss claims involve parcels that 

are distant from the nearest climate station, requiring that climatic conditions for those parcels 

be estimated. PRISM data sets are interpolated to a regular grid, and can be queried to provide 

estimates at any location across the United States. In addition, the PRISM data sets are recognized as the most accurate source of spatial climate data available. As such, they are a principal 

data source in an overall model for synergistically using climate information and local- to regional-scale ground-truthing to characterize the validity of crop insurance claims. Based on their 

long history of developing observation-based climate products, PRISM also has a unique capability to provide expert interpretation of the data sets and their quality. This project is designed to 

utilize and improve the accuracy of PRISM spatial climate data sets, and provide for expert interpretation of these data sets for crop loss insurance claims.

PRISM also provides RMA and the Approved Insurance Provider’s (AIP’s) operational support 

through a web based program that allows the AIP’s to substantiate weather events and producers claims much faster which can expedite the claims process. The precision offered through 

the web based system offers major improvement over other data the agency has used in the 

past, because some events can be extremely local.

Department of Interior

Bureau of Land Management, Land Management Services

The Department of Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) utilizes air-resourcerelated (air quality, weather, and climate) information in order to manage public lands in a manner consistent with Congressional direction as expressed in the Federal Land Policy Management Act (FLPMA). FLPMA directs the BLM to periodically and systematically inventory resources through a land-use planning process and to manage public lands in a manner that protects the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, 

as well as other natural resources. The BLM also requires air-resource-related information to 

conduct environmental analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for agency-initiated activities and land-use authorizations and to ensure compliance with pollution laws 

such as the Clean Air Act.

The BLM must therefore obtain, collect, and 

analyze air-resource-related information to (1) 

determine baseline conditions of air and atmospheric values on the public lands; (2) evaluate 

changes in baseline conditions (trends); (3) understand the extent to which other natural resources (vegetation, hydrology, wildlife, range, 

minerals, etc.) are influenced by atmospheric 

conditions so that informed management decisions can be made; and (4) to assist in developing models to predict future conditions; such as, 

atmospheric dispersion models to assess air 

quality impacts. The BLM obtains information of 

acceptable quality collected from existing monitoring networks operated by other agencies and 

Figure 3: Portable ozone monitor with high quality 

PSD level meteorological station in background 

(Inigok, Alaska).

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Agricultural and Land Management Services

programs whenever possible to promote efficiency and avoid duplication of efforts. Examples of 

these networks include the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Network, Natural 

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) SNOw pack TELemetry (SNOTEL) and Soil Climate 

Analysis Network (SCAN) networks, the National Interagency Fire Center Remote Automated 

Weather Station (RAWS) network, the Bureau of Reclamation Agricultural Weather (AgriMet) 

networks, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow (CoCoRaHS) network, the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP), the U.S. Geological Survey National Streamflow Information Program (NSIP), and individual state climate offices.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Service

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency for USDA 

and conducts research on all aspects of agriculture including crop and livestock production, natural resources and sustainable agriculture systems, and human nutrition and food safety.

Weather-related research by ARS develops technologies to enable agriculture to cope with, and 

when possible benefit from, the effects of weather on crop and livestock production and natural 

resources and ecosystem services. Weather and climate data inputs and an understanding of 

weather-driven processes are critical to the development of crop growth and yield models, erosion models, nutrient cycling models, soil-plant-atmosphere process models, and many other 

simulation tools needed to provide continual advancements for agriculture. Such simulation 

tools are the foundations for the development of decision-support systems used for day-to-day 

decision making by producers and land managers, and policy-related decisions by strategic decision-makers. The Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) is a 

collaborative global effort to develop an ensemble crop yield estimation effort driven by the 

availability and use of weather data.

The interactions between genetics, environment (heavily focused on weather) and management 

practices (G x E x M) are under investigation as an approach to meeting the goals of sustainable agriculture as weather affects 1) the quantity and quality of desired yields, 2) the environment needed for agriculture and ecosystem services, 3) the economic viability of agriculture, 

and 4) the quality of life for rural populations and society as a whole. These goals are approached through a research strategy of: measure and understand, develop process-model 

prediction capacity, and then develop management technologies. Weather data and forecasting 

are integral to the research and applications of the research.

It is essential that crops and livestock be able to withstand weather stresses and losses from 

insect and disease exacerbated by the impacts of weather variations. Thus, the development of 

new crop and livestock varieties is a foundation of ARS weather and climate research. The interaction of water and high temperatures are of special interest.

The interactions of management systems and genetics are tempered by weather. ARS weather 

research is pursuing the hypothesis that the development of basic understandings and process 

models of the interacting effects of crop varieties with specific management practices adapted to 

weather means and extremes offers promise towards meeting the challenges of expanded food 

production for a growing world population.

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

The ARS Long Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) network is distributed geographically to 

provide a coordinated outdoor laboratory environment encompassing regional and local weather 

differences. The geographic diversity and the ability to obtain weather data and data on weather-driven processes that can be compared over time and space are critically important strengths 

of the LTAR. Weather data are a foundation of LTAR measurements. ARS collaborates with 

domestic and international colleagues, including universities, NASA, NOAA, USGS, state and 

tribal organizations, and industry.

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AVIATION SERVICES 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Aviation Services are those specialized meteorological 

services and facilities established to meet the requirements of general, commercial, and military aviation. Civil programs that are directly related to services solely for aviation and military programs in support of land-based aviation and medium- or long-range missile operations are included. Detailed aviation services/products for specific areas include, but are not 

limited to, ceiling and visibility, convective hazards, en route winds and temperatures, ground 

de-icing, in-flight icing, terminal winds and temperatures, turbulence, volcanic ash, and other 

airborne hazardous materials.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

U.S. Code Title 49 Section 44720 (49 U.S.C. 44720) provides the basis for the Department of 

Commerce, through National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National 

Weather Service (NWS), to provide “meteorological services necessary for the safe and efficient 

movement of aircraft in air commerce” based on recommendations from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Domestically, NWS is designated as the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service Provider and FAA is the United States designated Meteorological Authority for 

aviation weather services for the United States mission to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The FAA is implicitly responsible for ensuring compliance with the services as 

defined and with maintaining ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices as specified in Annex 3, Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation.

The Department of Defense (DOD) service branches (U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine 

Corps), and the Department of Homeland Security service branch (Coast Guard) provide their 

own aviation weather support. Each military service has its own meteorological support personnel except the Army, which is supported by the Air Force. Please refer to the Military Services 

section for details of military-unique aviation weather services.

Interagency Collaborative Operational Products and Services

National Volcanic Ash Operations Plan for Aviation

Under the auspices of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and 

Supporting Research (OFCM), the following agencies participate in the interagency Working 

Group for Volcanic Ash (WG/VA) and Committee for Aviation Services and Research (CASR): 

FAA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), NOAA, U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS), the U.S. Air Force, and the Smithsonian Institution. The WG/VA maintains the National 

Volcanic Ash Operations Plan for Aviation. The purpose of the plan is to provide operational 

guidance by documenting the required procedures and information products of the government 

agencies responsible for ensuring safety of flight operations when volcanic ash has erupted into 

the atmosphere. This document also provides information on how the FAA, as the U.S. meteorological authority with regard to the ICAO, meets its obligations to the International Airways 
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

Volcano Watch, which is sponsored by the ICAO. There are several regional plans in addition to 

the national plan. Regional plans are currently in place for Alaska, the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon), and the Northern Marianas Islands (draft framework). Future plans are being 

developed for Hawaii, California, and Puerto Rico/Eastern Caribbean. These plans are available 

on the OFCM website at http://www.ofcm.gov. Regional plans typically also involve State and 

local agencies.

USGS. Through its five Volcano Observatories (Alaska, California, Cascades, Hawaiian, Yellowstone), the USGS is responsible for monitoring volcanoes in the United States and issuing 

notifications about volcanic activity at individual volcanoes. USGS Volcano Observatories use a 

combination of ground-based, airborne, and space-based techniques to interpret precursory unrest and forecast expected volcanic activity (including when eruptions are not expected). Notifications of eruptive activity from USGS monitoring activities are supplied to FAA and DOD to 

provide warnings for pilots and aircraft operators and to NOAA to aid in its forecasting and tracking of ash clouds. Because of the proximity of Alaskan volcanoes to busy North Pacific air 

routes, the USGS’s Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has been and continues to be a world 

leader in the integration of volcano observatory operations with efforts by other agencies to mitigate the risk from airborne volcanic ash. USGS notifications and warnings about current volcanic activity throughout the United States are available to the public online at 

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ and through a free email subscription service at 

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vns/. 

USGS works on a number of fronts with FAA, NOAA, and DOD, as well as with ICAO, to improve capabilities detect and warn of the presence of volcanic ash in flight routes, both domestic 

and international. USGS Volcano Observatory scientists participate in ICAO-led international 

exercises to practice coordinated response to an ash-producing eruption USGS has developed 

a display and analysis tool for accessing satellite data from a variety of sensors, which is being 

used collaboratively with NOAA’s Anchorage and 

Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers to improve ash-cloud detection capabilities. USGS also 

has developed an ash dispersion and deposition 

model (called Ash3D) that provides ash fall forecasts to support the NWS in Alaska in its issuance 

of ash fall warnings for the public.

Recognizing that many potentially dangerous volcanoes have inadequate or no ground-based monitoring, the USGS evaluated volcano-monitoring 

capabilities and published “An Assessment of Volcanic Threat and Monitoring Capabilities in the 

United States: Framework for a National Volcano 

Early Warning System (NVEWS)” 

(http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1164/). Results of the 

NVEWS volcanic threat and monitoring assessment are being used to guide long-term improvements to the national volcano-monitoring infrastructure operated by the USGS and affiliated 

groups. The most threatening volcanoes—those 

near communities and transportation infrastructure 

(ground and air) and with a history of frequent and 

violent eruptions—need to be well monitored in real time with an extensive suite of instrument types 

Figure 1: Volcanic ash hazards can be catastrophic to aviation operations.

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to detect the earliest symptoms of unrest and to reliably forecast behavior of the volcano. Remote, isolated, or less frequently erupting volcanoes that nevertheless can pose hazards to airtraffic corridors require sufficient monitoring capability with ground-based instruments to detect 

and track unrest in real time so that other agencies responsible for en route flight safety can be 

reliably apprised of the potential for explosive, ash-cloud-forming eruptions.

NASA. Through its fleet of on-orbit satellites, NASA is able to rapidly generate and broadly disseminate imagery and data products on the location, heights, and characteristics of ash plumes 

and related hazards. These data products fuel a range of research and applications investigations that enhance knowledge of solid Earth processes, atmospheric transport and composition, 

and the impacts that volcanic eruptions have on the Earth system. Although NASA does not 

have operational responsibility for observation and analysis of volcanic gas and aerosol emissions, its fleet of research spacecraft provides data that are directly applicable to the societal 

hazards presented by these phenomena. In FY 2016, the NASA Applied Sciences Program 

Disasters area implemented a formal disaster response element and is now supporting a Disaster Response Team at NASA Centers to better coordinate the provision of NASA data to the 

operational agencies. For example, NASA data made a significant contribution to the production 

of Alaska and Montreal Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) volcanic ash advisories for the 

Pavlov eruptive event in March 2016. The data resolved important height and trajectory questions (see Figures 2 and 3). 

NASA Disasters also 

plans to conduct a 

workshop in FY 2017 to 

develop a NASA Disaster Response Plan for 

Volcanic Ash to improve 

and standardize its internal guidance for the 

team to support the nine 

U.S. and international 

Volcanic Ash Advisory 

Centers and other response efforts.

NASA's Earth Science 

Division operates seven 

on-orbit sensors that 

routinely monitor volcanic ash, gases, aerosols, and eruptions. The seven sensors currently on 

orbit are: the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite 

(CALIPSO), a joint mission between NASA and the French space agency CNES, which provides high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds; the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) onboard the International Space Station (ISS) is a lidar sensor continuing the aerosol and cloud profile record; the two Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) 

onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites; the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI)—a contribution 

of the Netherlands's Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR) in collaboration with the Finnish 

Meteorological Institute (FMI)—onboard the Aura satellite; and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite in 

partnership with NOAA. OMI and OMPS data, in which sulfate aerosol is used as a proxy for 

detecting volcanic ash, provide very accurate maps of the horizontal distribution of volcanic ash 

clouds, especially during the first several days following an eruption. 

Figure 2: CALIOP data from the NASA/CNES CALIPSO satellite showed the Mt. 

Pavlov eruption plume at 4-9 km on 28 and 29 March 2016.

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In collaboration with 

NOAA, the next National 

Polar Operational Environmental Satellites 

(NPOES) system to 

launch is the Joint Polar 

Satellite System (JPSS), 

which also will deploy 

the OMPS-Nadir spectrometer. For more limited applications, NASA 

also operates the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s 

(METI) 15-meter (in the 

visible to near infrared 

bands) and 90-meter (in 

the thermal infrared bands) High-resolution Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) instrument onboard the NASA Terra spacecraft which can be scheduled on a 

limited basis. For post event analysis, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on 

the NASA Aqua satellite has been used effectively to compliment CrIS in locating sulfate aerosols. NASA Applied Sciences researchers have also contributed to developing volcanic ash algorithms used for current NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) 

analysis, and which will be integrated onboard GOES-R series satellites. In FY 2013, NASA began making CALIPSO Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) data and 

products available in near-real time for operational use. These data have been demonstrated to 

be of particular utility for improving trajectory model forecasts of volcanic ash, validating the location of volcanic ash determined by forecast models, and resolving the vertical structure and 

layering of ash clouds. The NASA Applied Science Program, through its participation with its 

OFCM Volcanic Ash Working Group partners (World Meteorological Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization), is currently assisting the volcanic ash community to identify 

the next generation of space-borne sensors, especially lidar, to inform mission planning after 

CALIPSO, which is an extended mission nearing the end of its service period. Finally, the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the NASA Terra spacecraft has been 

used retrospectively to study volcanic ash events and could continue to provide some utility in 

resolving vertical dimensions of ash plumes due to its oblique viewing angle, although it too is 

close to the end of its service period.

The Applied Sciences Program’s Disaster Area is currently responsible for developing satellite 

data applications for volcanic ash and remains focused on extending research in which the 

Agency has employed these satellite measurements to improve the accuracy of trajectory model 

forecasts to improve aerosol dispersion (ash concentration) model forecasts for the Volcanic 

Ash Advisory Centers (VAACS). In addition, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) has developed 

small, dedicated Dragon Eye Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), which penetrate volcanic 

plumes, and has coordinated these measurements with ASTER observations allowing scientists 

to compare sulfur dioxide concentration derived from the satellite with UAS measurements taken from within the plume. Since 2014, NASA scientists also have developed the capability to 

deploy rapid response balloon teams to measure volcanic aerosol plume characteristics needed 

to calibrate satellite retrievals such as those taken by CALIPSO to extend forecast capabilities 

beyond trajectory mapping and to be able to begin to accurately estimate the mass loading of 

volcanic plumes. In 2015, the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) comFigure 3: The OMPS instrument on the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite 

traced the SO2 signature of the Pavlov eruption, and confirmed a northern 

trajectory path at lower altitudes.

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pleted its Fundamental Aeronautics Program’s Vehicle-Integrated Propulsion Research (VIPR3) Project, which is a joint research project among NASA, USAF, USGS, FAA and the three 

largest engine manufacturers. This research produced data that can now be used to help determine propulsion system tolerances and thresholds for ingesting various concentrations of diffuse, persistent volcanic ash for increasing exposure periods. The purpose of this research is to 

improve the understanding of volcanic ash behavior and impacts in modern aircraft propulsion 

systems, to inform the development of operating procedures for operating in or near volcanic 

ash environments, and to develop improved aircraft engines and systems. In addition, on May 

17-18, 2016, NASA held a Volcano Workshop attended by approximately 30 experts from 

NASA, NOAA, USGS, and several universities to develop an observation strategy that can be 

quickly implemented in response to a major volcanic eruption, and to characterize the changes 

to atmospheric (especially stratospheric) composition following a large volcanic eruption. This 

strategy will help to understand and project the consequences of a major eruption, an event 

which can impact weather, climate, and atmospheric chemistry on regional, hemispheric, and 

global scales over significant time periods.

NOAA. NOAA/NWS is responsible for aviation-related volcanic ash forecasting services in the 

United States. The program is currently managed under the Aviation and Space Weather Services Branch at NWS Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. Although the main focus has 

been and continues to be on the airborne ash hazards (mainly impacting aviation), there has 

been a move in the past several years to expand into an “all hazards” approach that incorporates both the NWS Public and Marine Services programs. The NWS is a co-lead in the development of regional volcanic ash response plans in the United States. Plans are currently in 

place for Alaska, the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon), and the Northern Marianas Islands. Future plans are being developed for Hawaii, California, and Puerto Rico/Eastern Caribbean. These plans are available on the OFCM website at http:/www.ofcm.gov. As noted earlier, 

NOAA/NWS also operates the Anchorage VAAC and partners with NESDIS, which operates the 

Washington VAAC—two of the nine such international centers.

NOAA/NESDIS is responsible for providing satellite data used in detecting and tracking volcanic 

ash in the atmosphere and is dedicated to providing timely access to global environmental data 

from satellites and other sources to promote, protect, and enhance the Nation's economy, security, environment, and quality of life. Many of the operational environmental satellites operated 

by NESDIS (see NOAA/NESDIS in Basic Services section) have channels available to help 

forecasters detect and track volcanic ash. The GOES-R and JPSS programs are joint NOAANASA programs that will provide more frequent, higher resolution imagery for the detection and 

tracking of volcanic ash beginning in 2015.

NOAA/OAR (Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) 

also participates to support NOAA’s volcanic ash services. ARL will be conducting research and 

development to improve the volcanic ash application of the ARL-developed HYSPLIT transport 

and dispersion model that is used by the NWS/NCEP to support the U.S. VAACs. In particular, 

ARL will work to (1) improve the quantification of the initial ash mass and its vertical distribution, 

(2) develop a model evaluation database, and (3) work with other VAACs to promote standardization of volcanic ash dispersion products. ARL will collaborate with scientists at the NESDIS 

Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

Volcano Hazards Program. This work should lead to more globally harmonized dispersion guidance products and a better understanding of the dispersion model capabilities.

U.S. Air Force. The Air Force provides volcanic ash surveillance and analysis to support DoD 

aviation operations worldwide. Analysts continuously monitor active volcanoes. Air Force products supplement existing ICAO Volcanic Ash Advisory Center products and include active vol2-57
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

cano alerts, tailored satellite imagery, and graphical ash plume forecasts detailing coverage and 

concentration. The Air Force products ensure availability of information critical to DoD aviation 

when products from other international centers are not available.

Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, Global Volcanism Program 

(GVP). GVP collects, catalogs, and disseminates information on ~1,540 volcanoes active in the 

last 10,000 years with a small staff working regular business hours Monday to Friday in the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. The aviation community most depends on GVP for 

volcano names, locations, summit elevations, and a set of unique volcano numbers (VNUM’s) 

for precise international communication about the source of eruptive plumes and related hazards. For example, Pacaya volcano in Guatemala (along the main approach to the Capital’s airport) is designated on VAAC reports as “Volcano: Pacaya 342110.” The numbers, or unique 

portions thereof, also provide a short-hand for labeling closely spaced volcanoes on maps. Each 

month GVP compiles the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network 

(http://volcano.si.edu/reports_bgvn.cfm) synthesizing information about volcano behavior, monitoring, and eruptions at variable time scales (months to years). The USGS and GVP jointly release the Weekly Volcano Activity Report summarizing eruptions and hazards during the preceding one-week interval (http://volcano.si.edu/reports_weekly.cfm). Both reports appear on the 

GVP website (http://www.volcano.si.edu), which also features photos, eruptive histories, and 

other information, including the current list of data needed by the aviation community.

NOAA/National Weather Service

NOAA/NWS aviation weather projects support increasing and improving observation capabilities, forecast products and techniques, outreach and training, operational adaptation of applied 

research, and verification of forecast products. These projects have the goal of supporting the 

FAA in the safe and efficient flow of air traffic in the National Airspace System (NAS). In response to requirements from the FAA and the international community, aviation weather products issued by NWS span the globe.

Under an international agreement through the ICAO, the United States meets its weather forecasting obligations to the aviation community through products and services of the World Area 

Forecast Center (WAFC) Washington, one of two global services, composed of two components 

of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP): Aviation Weather Center (AWC), 

located in Kansas City, Missouri, and NCEP Central Operations (NCO) in College Park, Maryland. AWC prepares forecasts four times a day of globally significant thunderstorms, tropical 

cyclones, severe squall lines, moderate or severe turbulence and icing, and cumulonimbus 

clouds associated with these conditions. The forecast charts also include information on volcanic activity, radiological releases, jet streams, and tropopause heights. This information is made 

available by the WAFC Internet File Service (WIFS) to provide World Area Forecast System 

(WAFS) products and services, as defined by ICAO Annex 3, in an Internet web-based medium.

The AWC, along with the NWS Alaska Region’s Alaska Aviation Weather Unit (AAWU) and the 

NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Honolulu, Hawaii, provides wind, temperature, and 

flight hazard (e.g., icing and turbulence) forecasts for flight planning and en route aircraft operations for the United States, the north Atlantic and north Pacific routes, and some routes in the 

southern hemisphere. This information is disseminated by AWC via WIFS in support of the 

WAFS for ICAO aviation data needs and in support of World Meteorological Organization 

(WMO) Region IV (North America) data exchange requirements.

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Under agreement with the FAA, six AWC meteorologists are authorized at the FAA Air Traffic 

Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) in Warrenton, Virginia, to provide decision support 

services for strategic planning and traffic flow management for the NAS. These meteorologists 

work collaboratively with the AWC, the Center Weather Service Units (CWSU), and with FAA 

planners and the aviation industry to identify and mitigate airspace constraints caused by 

weather, from several days out to immediate weather impacts.

Also under an agreement with the FAA, NWS meteorologists are assigned to the CWSUs located in each of the 21 FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs). Authorized CWSU staffing is 84 NWS meteorologists (4 at each of the 21 ARTCCs) to provide real-time support and 

decision assistance concerning weather impacts on air traffic. In addition to supporting the 

ARTCCs, the CWSUs provide meteorological support to en route centers, Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities, and airport towers. Because CWSU forecast support is embedded 

within the aviation mission, meteorologists can focus on specific customer needs. In one example, a specialized marine stratus display system was developed to address the difficult issue of 

fog formation and dissipation in the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Francisco stratus system 

is used operationally by the CWSU meteorologist, WFO aviation forecaster, FAA traffic managers, and airline meteorologists.

To operationally support the needs of aviation users today, the NWS WFOs prepare Terminal 

Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs) up to eight times daily, with amendments as needed, for more 

than 680 public-use airports in the United States and its territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Thus NOAA, through three NWS Meteorological Watch Offices (MWO) and the two VAACs, 

provides large-scale, global aviation functions that can be sensibly centralized, while the NWS 

WFOs and CWSUs discharge local aviation functions. Additionally, NCO supplies global gridded 

model data of temperature, 

winds, and humidity twice daily for flight levels from 5,000 

to 45,000 feet.

NOAA funds initiatives designed to improve the delivery 

of aviation weather information to NAS users. These 

initiatives include training 

programs to enhance forecaster effectiveness and development of products to improve weather information 

availability to the aviation 

community. NWS’s Science 

and Technology Integration 

(STI) portfolio funds development and implementation 

of improvements to accuracy 

and accessibility of aviation 

weather information, aimed at 

meeting the goals of the Next 

Generation Air Transportation 

System (NextGen).

Figure 4: The Aviation Weather Center (AWC) has the responsibility, as 

part of the World Area Forecast Center, Washington, to provide global 

weather forecasts of significant weather phenomena. Presently, the AWC 

produces these High Level Significant Weather charts covering two 

thirds of the globe, both northern and southern hemispheres that are 

issued four times a day.

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AviationWeather.gov 

In addition to satisfying global requirements for aviation weather, AWC hosts AviationWeather.gov, which makes available to the aviation community text, digital, and graphical forecasts, 

analyses, and observations of aviation-related weather variables. AviationWeather.gov also 

serves as a platform for aviation weather products emerging from the FAA Aviation Weather 

Research Program and transitioning to operations. It has become an invaluable resource to users, especially in the U.S. general aviation community. The AWC’s website infrastructure provides increased levels of data reliability for users.

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAAC) 

The United States, in agreement with ICAO, operates two VAACs as entities within NOAA. One 

of these, the Anchorage VAAC, is part of the AAWU located in Anchorage, Alaska, and works 

closely with the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The second VAAC, which is part of NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and NCEP, is located in 

College Park, Maryland. The VAACs monitor volcanic activity through satellite remote sensing, 

provide initial notification of a volcanic eruption upon detection, and forecast volcanic ash plume 

movement and evolution.

NWS International Obligations 

National Weather Service meets international commitments through participation as consultants 

to FAA in ICAO groups, ad hoc task forces, and project teams. In addition, NWS leads or participates in a number of WMO teams chartered by the WMO Commission on Aeronautical Meteorology. These teams include the Expert Teams (ET) on Information and Services for Aviation 

(ISA), Aviation, Science, and Climate (ASC), and Education, Training, and Competencies 

(ETC), which partners with ICAO’s Meteorological Panel (METP) and associated Working 

Groups; and the ET for Communication, Coordination, and Partnership.

Federal Aviation Administration 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) manages the National Airspace System (NAS) and 

has responsibility to collect and distribute current weather observations to NAS users – particularly weather aloft and surface weather that may constrain the free flow of aircraft, as well as 

known hazardous weather. The purpose is to warn pilots, assist Air Traffic Control, Traffic Flow 

Management, Flight Services, the Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center (ATCSCC), 

NAS operations including commercial airline dispatchers, airports, and all controlled-airspace 

users. Timely and accurate weather observations, predictions, and derived constraints to aviation movement are essential to aviation safety and needed to make best use of aviation capacity 

for efficiency, fuel savings, and to reduce delay. Rapidly refreshed weather observations suitable for Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) are blended with NOAA forecasts to provide 

local / regional / national / oceanic aviation weather products of tactical and strategic importance 

essential to NAS safety and for all phases of flight. Traffic flow managers and pilots use regional 

weather observations and forecasts to determine when they need to plan alternative routes to 

avoid severe weather, and air traffic controllers use local weather to regulate approach, landing 

and departure and warn pilots of immediate weather hazards at air terminals. Aviation weather 

encompasses every basic meteorological parameter placing them in relation to aeronautical information at the surface and aloft, including precipitation, wind, visibility, pressure, temperature, 

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lightning, derivative products such as storm cells, icing, turbulence, cloud layers, and hydrometeor classification.

Weather Systems

The FAA employs two categories of weather systems: weather sensors and weather processing/dissemination systems. FAA weather sensors include weather radars and automated 

surface observation systems that measure atmospheric parameters, such as surface temperature, prevailing wind speed and direction, relative humidity, cloud bases and tops, as well as 

wind shear and microbursts. These weather sensors provide real-time information to FAA 

weather processing/dissemination systems and to NWS centralized weather forecasting models. Weather processing systems organize, process, and distribute the sensor’s observed data, 

matched with forecasts, and blends National Airspace System (NAS) operations with weather 

information. Data from multiple sensors feed numerical forecast model ensembles whose output 

can be disseminated and integrated in national and local processing systems to interpret broad 

weather trends affecting aviation operations. This information is then sent to air traffic controllers, traffic flow managers, dispatchers, and pilots in a seamless suite of weather tools that look 

backwards and forwards in time and along terminals, intended flight paths, flow corridors, sectors, and regions.

Weather Sensors 

Weather sensors include networks of 1) surface weather observing stations, 2) ground-based 

sensors that observe weather aloft including long range weather radars, terminal weather radars, weather channels obtained from surveillance radars, lidars, 3) wind shear detection systems, 4) airborne weather sensors, and 5) human observations including pilot reports and 

weather observers. Weather sensor products from other Agencies, commercial lightning detection, aeronautical information, and satellite images are blended with FAA base weather observations to create derived aviation weather products for NAS users.

Next Generation Weather Radar

Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) is a long-range 

weather radar system that detects, analyzes, and transmits 

weather information for use by the ATCSCC, enroute, terminal and flight service facilities. NEXRAD was developed under a joint program of the Department of Commerce 

(DOC)/NWS, Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Transportation (DOT)/FAA. NEXRAD radars are 

national critical assets that indirectly support most weather 

information users in the United States. These 160 systems 

are long-range, Doppler weather radars that detect and produce long-range and high-altitude weather observation products and special products, including three-dimensional areas 

of precipitation by type, cloud cover by height, storm cells, 

winds aloft, turbulence, and icing. NEXRAD products and services are processed by FAA 

weather processing systems and by NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFO). NEXRAD feed 

forecast models at NOAA computation centers, and also the Advanced Weather Interactive 

Processing System (AWIPS). NWS forecasts and remote AWIPS terminals based on a mosaic 

of NEXRAD are used by FAA, and integrated with FAA weather observations. NEXRAD mosaics are used by enroute and oceanic controllers to aid pilots in avoiding hazardous weather. The 

Figure 5: NEXRAD Weather Radar.

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NEXRAD Dual Polarization modification project has been deployed at all sites, and software 

improvements to further exploit this extensive weather capability are under development.

Dual Polarization is an important upgrade to NEXRAD that improves detection of rain/snow mix, 

in-flight icing, hail, and non-weather biological targets (bird strike concerns). It is expected to 

improve the forecasting of areas where in-flight icing will occur. Working with partner agencies, 

the NWS is investigating alternatives for replacement of long-range NEXRAD capabilities 

by a Multi-Function Phased-Array Radar (MPAR), and potential alignment with the FAA 

NextGen Surveillance and Weather Radar Capability (NSWRC). Several major NEXRAD system components have reached their expected service life. They will undergo a service life extension upgrade or refurbishment over the next several years to extend NEXRAD system life to 

at least 2030.

Wind Shear Detection Services

The Wind Shear Detection Services (WSDS) portfolio includes the Terminal Doppler Weather 

Radar (TDWR), the Weather System Processor (WSP), and Low-level Windshear Alert System 

(LLWAS), and Wind Hazard Detection Equipment (WHDE) which employs LIDAR. These systems automatically detect wind shear conditions near runways and approach/departure corridors and provide data to FAA weather processing systems to alert controllers, who can then 

warn pilots of gust fronts and wind shear in the vicinity of the airport. WSDS Work Package 1 

(WP1) will address obsolescence of the legacy WSP and LLWAS to ensure that Air Traffic Controllers will continue to receive the wind shear alerts necessary to maintain the safety of the 

NAS. Since these systems have been deployed, no major windshear-related incidents have occurred in the NAS at WSDS locations.

Terminal Doppler Weather Radar

The most sophisticated windshear detection system is the 

Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR). The primary 

mission of the TDWR is to enhance the safety of air travel 

through timely detection and reporting of hazardous weather 

conditions including windshear events, microburst, gust 

fronts, and thunderstorms in and near an airport's terminal 

approach and departure zones. There are 45 operational 

TDWRs serving 46 high-density airports with the most risk 

of windshear exposure. Using a three-dimensional pencil 

beam and fast update rate, TDWR produce detailed weather 

information across the entire terminal area at the surface 

and aloft throughout terminal airspace to controllers so they 

can issue warnings to pilots. TDWR weather data is transmitted to FAA automation systems. TDWR’s unique products include high-resolution, rapid update of storm cells with 

height, precipitation, surface winds, windshear, etc. Activities are underway to address sustainment of the TDWR and 

the FAA is investigating whether to incorporate the TDWR 

functions into the NextGen Surveillance and Weather Radar 

Capability (NSWRC).

Figure 6: A Terminal Doppler 

Weather Radar

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Weather System Processor 

The Weather System Processor (WSP) is an add-on weather processor 

enhancement to the Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR) Model 9 (ASR-9). 

The WSP was implemented as a low-cost, high-quality, wind shear detection system at medium and higher air traffic density airports not 

equipped with the TDWR. The WSP provides advanced Doppler weather 

radar performance with all the functions of the TDWR. The WSP is partitioned to the front-end radar (ASR) modification, and the back-end 

(WSP) development. WSP is deployed at 34 airports throughout the 

NAS. WSP detects and alerts on microbursts and wind shear, predicts 

arrival of gust fronts, and shows precipitation intensity on a graphical situation display for use by ATC without further meteorological interpretation. Activities are underway to address sustainment of these radars and the FAA is investigating whether to incorporate 

the WSP into the NSWRC. 

Low Level Wind Shear Alert System (LLWAS)

LLWAS uses an array of wind sensors located around the runway thresholds and along approach/departure corridors to measure surface wind direction and velocity. LLWAS compares 

wind velocity and direction, detected across the airport operations area, to determine whether 

hazardous wind shear events are occurring at, or near, the runways. LLWAS interfaces with 

TDWR and WSP at higher density airports where the systems are co-located, or operates as a 

stand- alone system at other airports that do not have a TDWR or WSP. There are 49 LLWAS 

systems operational in the NAS today, which are undergoing service life extensions. The FAA is 

investigating whether to incorporate the functionality of these sensors into the NSWRC.

Automated Surface Weather Observation Network (ASWON)

The ASWON portfolio of automated surface weather sensors is being updated by the FAA into 

three common types of station configuration including: 

• Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) – ASOS are deployed at large airports with 

FAA Towers.

• Automated Weather Observing System Model C (AWOS-C) – AWOS-C are deployed at 

smaller, unmanned airports, where there is no control tower. AWOS-C replaces the legacy 

AWOS and AWSS to help reduce proliferation of configurations.

• Surface Weather System (SWS) – SWS are secondary systems that back-up ASOS. SWS 

replaces the legacy WME, WEF, and one configuration of DASI (C&G).

Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS)

ASOS are deployed at large airports with FAA Towers. ASOS have up to 14 individual sensors 

that measure surface weather data, including temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, type 

and amount of precipitation, cloud bases and amount of sky cover. These systems feed point 

observation data directly to local air traffic control facilities and support automated broadcast of 

weather information to pilots and flight planning. They also provide regular, rapid updates for the 

NWS forecast models that predict future weather conditions including adverse weather. ASOS 

are to use new AWOS-C standard software.

Figure 7: Airport Surveillance Radar

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Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) Model-C (AWOS-C)

AWOS-C are deployed at a few FAA towers, but mostly at smaller airports where there is no 

control tower, and at some Federal Contract Towers (FCT). AWOS-C was developed to meet 

the functional baseline of the legacy AWOS and AWSS subsystems to help reduce proliferation 

of configurations in the NAS. AWOS-C provides similar weather products as do ASOS including 

wind, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, sky condition, visibility, present 

weather, and have a rain gauge.

Surface Weather System (SWS)

SWS are deployed at ASOS airports. SWS generally serve as NAS back-up to ASOS, yet may 

become the primary provider of surface weather measurements if selected. SWS were developed to meet the functional baseline of the legacy SAWS, WEF, WME, and DASI systems.

SWS provide winds, temperature, dew point, and barometric pressure (altimeter setting). SWS 

provide the primary source of altimeter setting (pressure) through the use of a precise, triple 

pressure sensor system to terminal automation systems ARTS-IIIE, STARS, and Information 

Display Systems. SWS provide a second source of Airport Wind to TDWR, ASR-WSP, ITWS 

and Information Display Systems. SWS provide a second source of temperature and dew point 

to Information Display Systems.

Digital Altimeter Setting Indicator (DASI)

The Digital Altimeter Setting Indicator (DASI) is a system that measures atmospheric pressure 

and converts measured pressure into sea level pressure values based on the United States 

(U.S.) Standard Atmosphere. The value computed is known as the Altimeter Setting Indicator 

(ASI) value and is presented to the Air Traffic personnel in a digital format, e.g. 29.98, so they 

can inform pilots of the proper setting so the aircraft’s altimeter will read the correct runway elevation at touchdown. The local DASI display panels provide a five-digit display of altimeter setting that is viewed on the Light Emitting Diode (LED) readout on the front (DASI DME readout is 

pictured). A keypad (or other means) on the unit enables the station altitude and a correction 

factor (if needed) to be entered into the system manually. Up to 10 remote displays may be accommodated.

Stand-Alone Weather System (SAWS)

Stand-Alone Airport Weather System (SAWS) are secondary systems deployed at ASOS airports as a NAS back-up. SAWS provide a subset of weather measurements of pressure, temperature, and wind as do ASOS. 

Legacy ASWON systems are still in-service, but are being replaced by AWOS-C (AWSS) and 

SWS (WEF, and WME).

• Automated Weather Sensors System (AWSS) are deployed at smaller airports, where there 

is no control tower, and at some Federal Contract Tower (FCT) sites. They perform similar 

functions as AWOS.

• Wind Equipment F-Series (WEF) [Model F-420] are “wind-only” sensors that display prevailing wind which may be chosen as the official “Airport Wind” and time averaged maximum 

gust. WEF sensors are typically located near the Airport Reference Point (ARP).

• Wind Measuring Equipment WME) provide wind and gust information and may be chosen 

as the official “Airport Wind.” WME are typically located on LLWAS “tall poles” located near 

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centerfield aside the main runway, and use refitted LLWAS infrastructure with new electronic 

equipment 

Non-Fed AWOS

Similar to AWOS owned by Federal Agencies, the FAA also makes use of data from more than 

one thousand Non-Federally owned, AWOS operated by state, local, tribal governments, airports, and municipalities that follow FAA procedures and meet FAA AWOS certification parameters.

AWOS Data Acquisition System (ADAS) 

The ADAS is an automation system that collects, processes, generates, disseminates, and archives various surface observation weather products from over 1100 Federal ASOS, AWOS 

and AWSS locations in the CONUS, Alaska and Hawaii. In addition, under the purview of the 

FAA's Automated Lightning Detection and Reporting System (ALDARS) contract, ADAS receives cloud-to-ground lightning strike (latitude and longitude) information for the CONUS, Hawaii and Alaska from a commercial lightning data service provider to disseminate back to the 

weather observing systems. In addition, this lightning data is also sent to WMSCR for subsequent dissemination to authorized FAA systems.

ADAS consists of the Sensor Control System (SCS) components located at every ARTCC and 

primary/secondary centralized management and control (Regional ADAS Service Processor 

(RASP)) components located at both Network Enterprise Management Center locations, in Salt 

Lake City and Atlanta. The RASP connects to every SCS over the operational Federal Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) network providing centralized network management and 

control, and it also provides the interface to the (external) commercial lightning data service provider supplying the lightning strike data to the SCS for subsequent processing 

The ARTCC-based SCS provides the interface to the various types of weather observing systems in order to receive the binary-formatted One-Minute Observations (OMO), the text based 

Standard Hydro-meteorological Exchange Format (SHEF) and the Daily, Monthly Summary Reports. In addition, most of these systems also provide the key weather product - the Aviation 

Routine Weather Report (aka METAR). However, since there are over 150 legacy AWOS systems that are unable to generate the METAR, the SCS generates the METAR on their behalf. 

The SCS routes these various weather products to WMSCR for dissemination to other NAS and 

non-NAS users. The SCS also provides network management capabilities to the local ARTCC 

personnel and also connects to the local Remote Monitoring and Logging System (RMLS) for 

status reporting. The SCS is also responsible for receiving the lightning strike information from 

the RASP and generating location-specific lightning activity messages to every locallyconnected ASOS, AWOS and AWSS. These weather observing system include this lightning 

activity information into its OMO and METAR reports as well as making this information available to other local systems and through its VHF radio broadcasts. Some non-Federal AWOS are 

connected to WMSCR through FAA approved service providers. Only AWOS-III and IV are eligible for connection. They do not use ADAS.

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Observations

Liquid Water Equivalent (LWE) Rate Measurement & Reporting-Surface

Snow/ Ice 

At airports in cold climates, a ground anti-icing/de-icing program is an essential pre-takeoff service. Decision making in a ground anti-icing/deicing program is the responsibility of the pilot. Pilots need to have the most accurate airport weather observation information available to support 

their ground anti-icing/deicing program decisions. Recent weather research has provided compelling evidence that snow precipitation intensity, which is currently determined by a visibilitybased method, can be more accurately determined by measuring the LWE rate and providing 

this information as part of the airport weather observation. Pilots can use this enhanced information to more accurately determine their hold-over times. To capitalize on the federal government’s investment in ASOS, a cost effective way to provide this LWE rate capability is to implement it in ASOS. The FAA is currently pursuing ways to provide this capability in ASOS. This 

improvement will enhance aircraft and passenger safety and support traffic flow management. 

The FAA is also pursuing development of a commercial LWE Rate System.

Weather Processing Systems 

Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS)

ITWS integrates many 

terminal sensors and 

generates automated 

weather products such as 

windshear alerts, gust 

front position predictions 

(up to 20 minutes into the 

future), storm cell intensity, direction of motion, 

terminal lightning information, detailed winds in 

the terminal area, and a 

one-hour storm forecast. 

ITWS receives weather 

observation data from 

local automated surface 

observing sensors 

(ASOS, LLWAS), networks of sensors (ADAS, NLDN) and surrounding radars, (TDWR, ASR-9, 

ASR-11, and NEXRAD). ITWS bundles observations with NWS forecasts and runs value-added 

algorithms such as windshear prediction to provide real-time aviation weather information for 

pilots. Tower and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) controllers, who use the information to make precise estimates of when runways should close and subsequently reopened, 

as well as for efficient switches in terminal arrival patterns. ITWA helps avoid inefficient maneuvering on taxi ways and on approach and departure and helps to accommodate runway direction changes as aircraft approach an airport. There are 34 ITWS Product Generators in-service 

at over one hundred sites including ATCTs, TRACONs, ARTCCs and the ATCSCC. ITWS provides common aviation weather information to 75 major airports and over 1000 airline dispatchers. ITWS will be subsumed by the NextGen Weather Processor (NWP) and Common Support 

Services – Weather (CSS-Wx). 

Figure 8: Example of ITWS Weather Products

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Corridor Integrated Weather System (CIWS)

The Corridor Integrated Weather System (CIWS) is a fully automated real-time weather analysis 

and forecasting system. It combines data from US and Canadian weather radars with satellite 

data, surface observations and numerical weather models to dramatically improve the accuracy 

and timeliness of the storm severity information and to provide accurate, rapidly updating 

weather information to air traffic flow managers in the 0-2 hour forecast timeframe. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) demonstrates the CIWS prototype 

in real-time, 24 hours each day providing continuous CIWS products to Traffic Flow Management (TFM) via the CIWS Data Distribution Service (CDDS), located at the William J. Hughes 

Technical Center (WJHTC). MIT LL observes the use of CIWS products in real-time and obtains 

feedback from users regarding the effectiveness of the concepts being demonstrated on behalf 

of the FAA, which is a key benefit of ongoing demonstrations. The CIWS system will be subsumed by the NWP and CSS-Wx.

CoSPA was developed as a companion program to CIWS. It combines CIWS data with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) 

to provide deterministic radar-forward forecasts out to 8 hours. The CoSPA prototype system is 

also demonstrated 24 hours each day for the FAA by MIT LL, in conjunction with the National 

Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The FAA air traffic flow managers and airline dispatchers rely heavily on CIWS and CoSPA products to provide the highest possible quality 

weather information to achieve more efficient tactical and strategic use of the airspace, reduce 

controller workload, and significantly reduce delay. CIWS and CoSPA are helping to shape the 

development of future FAA Air Traffic Management Systems, and will be subsumed by the NWP 

and CSS-Wx. 

Weather and Radar Processor (WARP)

WARP provides NEXRAD precipitation intensity data to ARTCC controllers’ displays. WARP 

compiles information from many FAA, NWS, and commercial weather sources for integrated 

display to ARTCC Traffic Management Unit (TMU) supervisors, sector controller’s briefing terminals, NAS operators of Enroute Automation Modernization (ERAM), Advanced Technologies 

& Oceanic Procedures (ATOP), Dynamic Ocean Tracking System (DOTS), Alaska Flight Data 

Processor 2000 (FDP2K), and other automation/display systems and web users. WARP serves 

as a one-stop source for weather interpretation by the CWSU forecasting stations. WARP sustainment activities are underway and the WARP mosaic change is targeted to complete in 2015. 

WARP will be subsumed by CSS-Wx and the NWP. 

Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS)

The Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS), hosted by NOAA on AviationWeather.gov, makes 

available to the aviation community text, digital and graphical forecasts, analyses, and observations of aviation-related weather variables. ADDS is a joint effort of the Federal Aviation Administration and the NOAA NCEP Aviation Weather Center (AWC). 

The success of ADDS (averaged over 23 million hits a day in 2014) has allowed the FAA to 

showcase several important research initiatives, including the Current and Forecast Icing Products, the Graphical Turbulence Guidance, and the National Ceiling and Visibility Analysis. It is 

important to note that these products have been through thorough technical reviews and safety 

risk assessments before release on ADDS as operational products. Operational ADDS runs at 

the AWC in Kansas City, MO.

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Weather Message Switching Center Replacement (WMSCR)

The WMSCR system consists of two redundant virtualized servers located in the Network Enterprise Management Center (NEMC) locations in Atlanta (ATL), Georgia and Salt Lake City 

(SLC), Utah. These two servers leverage the Integrated Enterprise Services Platform (IESP) 

infrastructure and operate in a primary/backup mode, where either server can provide weather 

and NOTAM information to all WMSCR users. These WMSCR servers connect to the NAS operational IP network and have the necessary infrastructure to support connectivity to non-NAS 

users via the NAS Enterprise Security Gateways. WMSCR also has deployed Service-Oriented 

Architecture (SOA) infrastructure to provide publication and subscription services of Pilot Report 

(PIREP) and Altimeter Setting reports via SWIM.

WMSCR receives, processes, and stores numerous text-formatted aviation weather products 

(such as Surface Observations (METARs/SPECIs), PIREPS, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, TAFs, etc.) 

as well as relaying the binary-formatted OMO and lightning products from ADAS, and disseminates these products to a variety of NAS and non-NAS users. WMSCR is a principal gateway to 

the National Weather Service (NWS), the military and foreign countries for the exchange of alphanumeric weather data.

WMSCR is also the FAA collection point for the receipt METARs sent in by authorized NonFederal AWOS service providers for some 1000+ non-Federal AWOS locations in the CONUS, 

and oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Note that WMSCR is a major FAA distribution system for 

NOTAMs from the US NOTAM System (USNS). However this service/capability will be discontinued when USNS is replaced by Federal NOTAM System (FNS) in September 2016. WMSCR 

functionality will be incorporated into a future upgrade of CSS-Wx.

Weather Camera Program

The primary goal of the FAA Aviation Weather Camera (AWC) Program is to improve aviation 

safety and efficiencies by providing current visual weather information in the form of near realtime video camera images to aviation users in Alaska. The camera images are designated as 

an FAA supplementary weather product used for enhanced situational awareness and the images are made available free on the public website at http://avcams.faa.gov. The camera images provide pilots, dispatchers and Flight Service Station Specialists with up-to-date weather 

conditions at airports, mountain passes, and other strategic Visual Flight Rules (VFR) locations 

and enables them to make better informed decisions about whether or not it is safe to fly before 

becoming airborne. It provides pilots with the ability to “look before you fly” as opposed to the 

age-old procedure “fly out to take a look”. New capability increases pilot situational awareness, 

enhances pilot flight decisions and when combined with other available weather information 

products, such as METARs, weather camera images become a powerful "go or no-go" aeronautical flight decision tool. 

With the known benefits of the camera systems and the low costs of its operation there is a high 

level of interest to expand the service to the remainder of the NAS where shortfalls in weather 

related aviation safety and efficiencies are known or suspected. Past and ongoing aviation studies have identified additional safety and efficiency shortfalls in areas of the contiguous United 

States and Hawaii where safety and efficiency shortfalls are identified. Studies conducted by the 

FAA office of Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS), and other FAA offices 

support the fact that weather cameras may be beneficial to aviation safety. In August 2013, the 

NTSB publically recognized the safety benefits of the weather camera system in Alaska and has 

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tiguous United States where cameras can address identified weather-related aviation accidents 

and safety shortfalls. 

Flight Services 

Flight Services collects and disseminates aeronautical and meteorological information, providing 

customized pre-flight and in-flight briefings to domestic and international general aviation communities, as well as to the military and commercial air carriers throughout the contiguous United 

States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Alaska. These services are provided by flight service specialists to pilots via phone or radio, or pilots can access the information directly through online (internet-based) web portals. Flight service specialists interpret weather and aeronautical data to 

provide pilot weather briefings and flight planning services tailored for a particular flight. Alternatively, pilots accessing preflight information directly through a web portal are responsible for interpreting the weather and aeronautical information for their flight. 

The FAA delivers these services through the following combination of contract vehicles and automation systems: Operational and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS), Flight Services for the 21st Century (FS21), and Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS).

Operational and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS) 

OASIS is a flight service automation system operational at the 17 Flight Service Stations in 

Alaska since 2007 and is owned and supported by Harris Corporation. FAA Air Traffic Control 

Specialists operate OASIS and site level maintenance is performed by FAA Technical Operations personnel. OASIS provides integrated textual and weather graphics products, flight plan 

processing, emergency services, law enforcement, flight planning and regulatory information 

and other services as defined in FAA Joint Order (JO) 7110.10. 

Flight Services for the 21st Century (FS21) 

FS21 is the automation system operational at five Flight Service Stations located in CONUS operated by Lockheed Martin Corporation under the FAA’s Automated Flight Service Station 

(AFSS) contract. The contract provides flight services to pilots throughout CONUS, Hawaii, and 

Puerto Rico. Lockheed Martin flight service specialists operate FS21 and are FAA-certified pilot 

weather briefers. FS21 provides integrated text and graphical weather products, flight planning 

and flight plan processing, emergency services, law enforcement, flight planning and regulatory 

information, and other services as defined in FAA JO 7110.10. 

Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS)

DUATS is an internet-based weather/aeronautical information and flight plan filing service that 

allows pilots to access information on-line to plan a flight, file a flight plan, and perform a selfbrief without the aid of a Flight Service Specialist. The FAA contracts for this service with two 

separate vendors: Lockheed Martin Corporation and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). 

DUATS provides aviation weather in both text (alphanumeric) and graphical formats according 

to standards defined in FAA JO 7110.10.

Contract Weather Observer (CWO) Program

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) created the Contract Weather Observer program 

in 1995, for the FAA and NWS to provide oversight and program management activities. As of 

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October 1, 2013, NWS transferred responsibility for training oversight, certification, and facility 

inspection of Limited Aviation Weather Reporting Stations (LAWRS), CWOs, and non-Federal 

Weather Observers (NF-OBS), to the FAA. The FAA continues to provide backup and augmentation to the ASOS and the NWS provide maintenance of the ASOS program. 

In February 1996, a Service Standards Policy was developed and implemented by the FAA, 

NWS, and industry representatives for airports having an operational ASOS. The FAA then assumed sole responsibility for providing program management and supplying operational certified 

CWOs to provide backup and augmentation of the ASOS at Service Level A and B airports. At 

Service Level C airports, the FAA uses Air Traffic Control personnel to perform LAWRS duties, 

which provide backup for the ASOS. 

Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)

NextGen is an umbrella term for the ongoing, wide-ranging transformation of the United States' 

NAS to ensure that future safety, capacity and environmental needs are met. NextGen will fundamentally change the way air traffic is managed by providing universal access to NAS users 

of all products derived from information provider sources, by translation of products into 

aircraft movement constraints, and by risk-based decision making. NextGen combines new 

technologies for surveillance, navigation, and communications with workforce training, procedural changes, and airfield development. 

NextGen enterprise services requires efficient consolidation of large volumes of weather observations and forecast information for processing, dissemination, and integration into decision 

support system algorithms to produce the more sophisticated aviation weather products of how 

weather will impact NAS operations. NextGen core technologies will allow introduction of new 

NextGen operational improvements. Weather related e fforts under NextGen include:

Common Support Services – Weather (CSS-Wx), NextGen Weather Processor (NWP) with Aviation Weather Display (AWD), NextGen Surveillance and Weather Capability (NSWRC), ATMWeather Integration Concepts, and NextGen Surface Observing Capability.

Common Support Services – Weather (CSS-Wx)

CSS-Wx will establish an aviation weather publishing capability for the NAS. It will enable universal access and the standardization of weather information for dissemination to users by System Wide Information Management (SWIM), a data management and sharing system the FAA 

is implementing for NextGen. Consumers of CSS-Wx information will be air traffic controllers, 

traffic managers, commercial aviation, general aviation, and other aviation enterprises. Consolidating several legacy weather dissemination systems, CSS-Wx will be the FAA's single provider 

of aviation weather data for integration into NextGen enhanced Decision Support Tools (DSTs).

The CSS-Wx System will:

• Provide weather information via Web Coverage Service (WCS) for gridded data, Web Feature Service (WFS) for non-gridded data, and Web Map Service (WMS) for images;

• Filter weather information by location and time with the ability to provide the user with 

weather data for a specific geographic area;

• Provide weather information in common, standardized formats using Weather Information 

Exchange Model (WXXM) for non-gridded data and using Network Common Data Form 

(NetCDF) for gridded data; and

• Store, archive, and retrieve weather information.

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Deliver improved weather products for input into collaborative decision-making applications using information provided by the NWP, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 

(NOAA) NextGen Web Services, and other weather sources available to FAA and NAS users.

The FAA is currently in the solution development phase of the CSS-Wx program.

NextGen Weather Processor (NWP)

The NextGen Weather Processor (NWP) will be a common weather processing platform that will 

replace the legacy FAA weather processor systems and host new capabilities. Using data feeds 

from both the FAA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) radars, other 

weather sensors, and NOAA forecast models, NWP will use sophisticated algorithms to create 

high-quality, aviation-specific current and predicted weather information. NWP will create high 

value weather products that will be accessed through the CSS-Wx system. NWP will perform 

weather translation to enable the use of this weather information by automated decision-support 

tools (DSTs). NWP will also provide improved aviation safety related windshear products. Collectively, these program features will help reduce rising operations and maintenance costs by 

consolidating the following weather systems: 

• Corridor Integrated Weather System (CIWS): Provides 0-to-2 hour aviation weather predictions and information to the Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) and associated users 

of heavily traveled air corridors.

• Weather and Radar Processor (WARP): Provides weather information to enroute air traffic 

controllers, supervisors, traffic management coordinators, and Center Weather Service Unit 

meteorologists.

• Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS): Provides weather information to terminal air 

traffic supervisors and controllers.

The NWP will:

• Replace and enhance the current processing and display functionality of the ITWS, CIWS, 

and WARP systems;

• Generate aviation weather products with expanded coverage areas and faster update rates;

• Generate 0-to-8 hour aviation weather products; 

• Generate safety critical wind shear alerts and real-time weather radar information; and

• Perform translation of convective weather into weather constraint areas. The FAA is currently in the solution development phase of the NWP.

NextGen Surveillance and Weather Radar Capability (NSWRC) 

NSWRC is a concept to replace terminal radars that do surveillance of aircraft and weather radars with single, multi-function radars that do both missions. Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR), 

Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) and the Weather Systems Processor (hosted on 

ASR-9) might all be replaced by a NSWRC solution. Technology under consideration includes 

Multi-function Phased-Array Radar (MPAR), legacy spinner radars, and networked short range 

radars. NOAA has studied MPAR technology with regard to NEXRAD. Long range surveillance 

radars with military applications may be relocated in radio frequency spectrum and this too 

could be accomplished by an MPAR solution. MPAR is being studied as an enabling foundation 

to consolidate many legacy radar types into a new common family, shared among Federal 

Agencies.

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ATM-Weather Integration Concepts

Currently NAS weather data is not well integrated into either manual procedures or automated 

decision-support systems. To support the predicted volume of future air traffic operations, improvements are needed. Unpredicted changes in weather are prime concerns because of the 

significant impact and disruption they create throughout the entire NAS. The current system 

does not respond well to unpredicted weather situations or to weather conditions that evolve 

differently than expected. This effort will address required improvements to support proactive 

planning operations rather than adjusting for impacts after the weather has changed. Activities 

in 2015 include technical studies for improvements to aviation weather information integration, 

transitioning an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)-compliant Quality Management 

System (QMS) to operations, and harmonization of aviation weather requirements with the international community.

FAA International Obligations

The FAA is the Meteorological Authority for the U.S. and establishes the requirements for meteorological services provided by the NWS to support international air navigation, as required by 

ICAO’s Annex 3, Meteorological Services for International Air Navigation. As part of the requirements process the FAA, as a member of several ICAO meteorological groups, represents 

U.S. interests and strives for global harmonization of meteorological products and services. The 

FAA represents the Unites States on ICAO’s World Area Forecast System Operations Group, 

ICAO’s International Airways Volcano Watch Operations Group, ICAO’s Aerodrome Meteorological Observation and Forecast Study Group, ICAO’s Meteorological Warnings Study Group, and 

ICAO’s Meteorological Aeronautical Requirements and Information Exchange Project Team.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

The National Airspace System of the Future

To address the growing demands on the NAS for the future, the 108th Congress and the 

George W. Bush Administration promulgated and signed into law VISION 100 Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (P.L. 108-176). The Vision 100 Act calls for an integrated, multi-agency 

plan to transform the nation’s air transportation system to meet the needs of the year 2025 and 

beyond, while providing substantial near-term benefits. The resulting Next Generation Air 

Transportation System (NextGen) initiative addresses critical safety and economic needs in civil 

aviation, while fully integrating national defense and homeland security improvements into the 

future NAS.

NextGen weather development activities will contribute to: (1) Expanded Capacity by providing 

air traffic managers the ability to better plan for predicted weather impacts on air travel, thus 

maximizing air space usage and optimizing flight routes; (2) Improved Safety by providing pilots 

and air traffic managers the ability to better assess and avoid hazards to air travel, such as severe turbulence, and (3) Protection of the Environment by enabling flight route optimization on 

the ground and in the air, thereby avoiding ground delays or holding patterns that require unnecessary jet fuel expenditure.

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FAA Interagency Planning Office (IPO) 

The FAA, NASA, and the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, and Transportation, along with the private sector and academic community, are working together with the 

Office of Science and Technology Policy to design and build the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). Under the direction from H.R. 3547 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2014 to transition Joint Planning and Development Office activities to the FAA NextGen office, 

the FAA established the IPO in May 2014 to facilitate interagency collaboration, harmonize aviation-related research activities, and help effect technology transfer between the NextGen partners. The IPO formalized the NextGen Executive Weather Panel to accomplish this mission 

across the aviation meteorology community. The IPO also works with the agencies to identify 

overarching challenges, emerging requirements, and potential technology development efforts 

that could enhance weather integration into national airspace operations.

FAA NextGen Office

Two principal FAA entities that report to the Assistant Administrator for NextGen are focused 

upon implementation of NextGen: the NAS Lifecycle Planning Division and the Aviation Weather 

Division (AWD) under the Office of Portfolio Management and Technology Development. The 

role of the NAS Lifecycle Planning Division is to ensure that the plans for the several NextGen 

strategic thrusts, called NextGen Portfolios, are coordinated and integrated for efficient nearand medium-term implementation across the FAA. This includes the NextGen Weather research 

and development as pre-implementation activities in the NAS Infrastructure Portfolio. Common 

Support Services-Weather (CSS-Wx), discussed earlier, is a transformational program that will 

address weather dissemination within the Air Navigation Service Provider infrastructure. 

NextGen Weather pre-implementation is focused on improving weather observations, weather 

forecasts, and operational decisions based upon that improved weather information by integrating it into manual and automated decision support tools in the NAS. In addition to working with 

the AWD, this portfolio coordinates the investment analysis and acquisition of new weather systems and services within the FAA’s Aviation Weather Services Directorate (AWSD), NOAA/NWS, and other agencies.

FAA AWG and AWSD Roles in NextGen Transition

The AWSD and AWD have important roles in the transition from today’s aviation weather services to future CSS-Wx and NextGen weather forecast improvements, and other NextGen 

Weather Processing capabilities, as the FAA moves from air traffic control to air traffic management (ATM). In the NextGen system, most communications will occur as digital data, much 

of it transferred directly from computer to computer. Relevant information will be shared easily 

among system users through network-enabled information access.

The AWSD develops mission need and investment analysis for initial investment decisions for 

FAA aviation weather sensors, forecasting capability, dissemination systems, and integration of 

improved weather capability into the NAS. The development of NAS weather requirements are 

essential artifact of the following NextGen documents: the Weather Concept of Operations, the 

Mission Needs Statement for Weather (MNS-339), the Preliminary Portfolio Requirements, and 

the Final Portfolio Requirements. The requirements work in this program feeds later-stage activities, as defined by the FAA Acquisition Management System (AMS) lifecycle, of the NAS Infrastructure portfolio.

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The AWD focus on NextGen is described below and includes collaboration with Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR), with ICAO for advanced aviation weather standards, and with 

all the U.S. agencies involved in NextGen. This work addresses the high cost of weather to today’s NAS, where weather is responsible for 70 percent of delays over 15 minutes and contributes to 24 percent of accidents and 34 percent of fatalities. Up to two-thirds of weather delays 

are avoidable, but despite a continuous flow of improvements available through aviation weather science and implementation solutions aimed at providing better weather information, weather 

continues to have significant impacts on aviation costs and safety. The purposes of this program 

are to reduce the number of weather-related aviation accidents; reduce aviation flight delays,

diversions, and cancellations; improve the operational efficiency of the NAS; and harmonize 

ICAO standard with U.S. practices in aviation weather.

The NextGen program in AWD is composed of three elements:

1. The Concept Identification and Development component generates, analyzes, manages, 

allocates, and validates requirements in the NextGen aviation weather portfolio. It focuses 

on the early stages of requirements from their inception/generation to the investment analysis and subsequent requirements decision. It develops transformational (NextGen mid-term 

and far-term capabilities), as well as evolutionary requirements (NextGen near-term capabilities). It formulates agreements between government and industry stakeholders on policies 

needed to meet requirements for airborne weather observations, including cost sharing, data access and distribution, data reporting frequency, aircraft equipage, and other technical 

issues. Finally, this program develops policies necessary for the allocation of roles and responsibilities in the provision of weather state information to meet requirements and U.S. 

commitments to ICAO. 

2. The Global Harmonization component carries out FAA’s role as the U.S. Meteorological 

Authority to ICAO. It promotes global harmonization through the development of ICAO 

Standards and Recommended Practices and manuals/guideline documents for surface and 

airborne observations/forecasts and global dissemination of aviation weather information 

that are supportive of NextGen. This work is accomplished through developing and presenting, to 12 ICAO planning, study, and operations groups, U.S. positions on issues arising 

from the ICAO Volcanic Ash program, the World Area Forecast System, the international 

Space Weather program, and amendments to ICAO Annex 3 and other guidance material to 

incorporate the NextGen concept of the 4-D Weather Data Cube.

3. The System Performance component develops metrics that provide a framework for enabling the FAA to measure the benefits of weather information for air traffic operations. It 

maintains standards for surface observations for the backup and augmentation of ASOS.

The NAS Infrastructure Portfolio

The NAS Infrastructure Portfolio is a planning and development portfolio that includes elements 

to ensure NextGen operational weather capabilities utilize a broad range of weather improvements and technologies to mitigate the effects of weather in future NAS operations. This portfolio has two major NextGen weather elements: NextGen weather observation improvements and 

NextGen weather forecast improvements. The NextGen weather elements will address many 

weather problems including, but not limited to, rightsizing the observations network, transition of 

weather research to operations, development of weather impact metrics, development of 

weather decision support tools, integration of weather information into operations, weather processor architecture redesign and restructuring, and transition planning for legacy systems. The 

NextGen weather elements will conduct planning, prototyping, demonstrations, engineering 

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evaluation, and investment readiness activities leading to an implementation of operational capabilities throughout the NextGen near, mid, and far terms.

A consistent and effective weather observation sensor network will be a cornerstone to improved NextGen weather capabilities. Currently the United States has fielded multiple weather 

surface sensor networks that vary in age up to 30 years. Ongoing technical refreshes and 

SLEPs can keep these sensors operating in the near to mid-term. However, as the demands of 

the NAS increase in the future, the present array of surface sensor systems will not be capable 

of delivering the required functionality. In addition, potential NextGen weather observation requirements might exceed current surface sensing capabilities (e.g., improved weather model 

initialization for increased weather forecast accuracy). Current surface observation systems also 

contain considerable overlap and waste that should be engineered out of the NAS. NextGen 

weather observation improvements will explore concepts for a next-generation surface sensing 

capability that can satisfy all current surface sensing requirements in a single system and be 

easily expandable to meet any future NextGen requirements.

The second NextGen weather element, NextGen weather forecast improvements, addresses 

the need to enable better weather decision-making and use of weather information in the transformed NAS. This need includes: (1) integrating weather information tailored for decision support tools and systems into NextGen operations, (2) implementing improved forecasts by transitioning advanced forecast capabilities from aviation weather research, (3) developing and using 

metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of weather improvements in the NAS, (4) developing probabilistic forecasts that can be effectively used in air traffic and traffic flow management, and (5) 

determining the most effective solution for a processor architecture to support these capabilities. 

RWI will propose recommendations for near, mid, and far time frames, including a recommendation for transition of legacy systems.

Collectively the effect of the NextGen NAS Infrastructure Portfolio weather elements will result in 

aviation weather information no longer being just a stand-alone display, requiring cognitive interpretation and impact assessment, with limited ability to significantly mitigate delays. Instead, 

weather information is being designed to integrate with and support NextGen decision-oriented 

automation capabilities and human decision-making processes.

NOAA/National Weather Service

NOAA’s commitment to the NextGen initiative has two core components: NextGen 

IT/WebServices which will provide improved access to NOAA weather information in the formats 

required by NextGen users and the NextGen Weather program, which will improve the accuracy, resolution and timeliness of weather information relevant to aviation users. 

Specifically, NextGen IT/Web Services will provide an information technology infrastructure 

which is flexible and extensible to keep pace with users’ weather information needs in a rapidly 

changing technological environment. The greater and easier access to NOAA weather information for aviation decision-makers will facilitate better integration of this information into aviation users’ decision-making processes and systems.

The NWS NextGen Weather program conducts targeted development of aviation weather tools 

and techniques and supports the transition of these new technologies to operations. FY15 and 

FY16 efforts are focused on improved data assimilation methods for advanced numerical models, evolution of statistical models for aviation weather prediction, prototyping of gridded weather 

information for aviation, and development of new capabilities to evaluate the performance of 

aviation forecasts.

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NOAA aviation weather information will be available to users of the NAS and to the FAA Air 

Traffic Management community through the FAA’s Common Support Services – Weather Program (CSS-Wx). While NextGen IT Services implements common weather data services, CSSWx will also implement these common data services within the FAA enterprise, and will utilize 

the weather data and information from NOAA for use in weather impact decisions for aviation.

Aviation Weather Testbed 

The NOAA/NWS Aviation Weather Testbed is a research-to-operations facility within the NOAA 

National Weather Service’s (NWS) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Aviation Weather Center (AWC). The AWT was established to facilitate the mission and realize the 

vision of NOAA NWS. The AWT achieves this through a physical and technical environment 

conducive to the efficient transfer of research into meteorological operations (or R2O). The AWT 

performs mission-relevant applied research and development (R&D) including R2O, and supports relevant R2O efforts of external partners in government, industry, and academia. The goal 

of all AWT activities is state-of-the-art meteorology, technology, and professionalism in NOAA 

operations.

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

Within NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), the Global Systems Division of the Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL/GSD) evaluates aviation weather impact 

variables such as icing, turbulence, ceiling and visibility, and convective weather and develops 

decision tools for NWS forecast offices, FAA traffic managers, and commercial and civil aviation. The FAA has also designated GSD as the independent assessor of its Aviation Weather 

Research Program-developed forecast and analysis projects.

GSD is developing a prototype Integrated Support for Impacted Air Traffic Environments 

(INSITE) tool that uses weather forecasts to identify hazardous weather that could impact air 

traffic routes. NWS forecasters can use INSITE to inform FAA Air Traffic managers about potential weather hazards so they can re-route air traffic. INSITE will be transitioned to Initial Operating Capability at the NWS in 2017.

GSD’s Experimental TRACON Approach and Departure Gate Forecast is a graphical product 

that helps air traffic controllers direct air traffic flow safely and efficiently around significant 

storms. GSD also created a prototype tool to assess the skill of these forecasts, and will expand 

the tool to include forecaster-modified output and prepare it for transition to NWS operations in 

2018.

The experimental HRRR-Aviation predicts ceiling heights, visibility, aviation flight rules, and 

cloud top heights in support of the aviation industry for applications in tactical and strategic decision making in the aviation community. GSD is testing a real-time 3-km HRRR over Alaska to 

provide high-resolution output for an area with significant weather hazard prediction challenges 

and significant dependence on general aviation travel. The Alaskan HRRR better represents the 

extreme Alaskan terrain and extensive regions of low ceilings and reduced visibility.

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National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

NSSL is collaborating with the FAA’s Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP) to significantly expand the product suite for aviation within the Multi-Radar, Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system. Expansion is targeted within four key areas. Quality and Assurance development seeks to 

insure the MRMS products are of the highest standard available. Tasks in this area include automated calibration of differential reflectivity, development of a three-dimensional radar quality 

index, and the creation of a time stamp mosaic of the pixel age. New acquisitions are the second target area. Tasks in this area include the incorporation of Terminal Doppler Weather Radar 

(TDWR) observations into the MRMS mosaics, interpolating reflectivity to flight levels, and adding new domains in the western Pacific and over the Caribbean Sea. The third target area is 

convective weather algorithm development. These tasks include development of a physicallybased convective growth and decay product and an automated boundary detection module. The 

final target area is for cold-season algorithm development. Products in this tasking include the 

development of a surface hydrometeor classification algorithm that can differentiate freezing 

rain from freezing drizzle and the creation of a terminal-area visibility product that accounts for 

snow effects. These efforts are overseen by an advisory panel made up of forecasters from 

several Center Weather Service Units (CWSUs), the Aviation Weather Center (AWC), as well 

as the FAA Command Center. 

NSSL is actively engaged in a risk reduction activity for the Multifunction Phased Array Radar 

(MPAR) technology with the FAA and industry in designing and testing dual-polarized phased 

array radar panels required to determine the feasibility of using MPAR as the replacement technology for weather and aircraft surveillance radars (i.e. multi-function). The NSSL has funded 

the development of 2 small-scale demonstrator phased array radar systems with research interests at the University of Oklahoma and MIT Lincoln Laboratory. These demonstrators are 

providing an evaluation of dual polarization phased array radar technologies on a planar 

(MIT/LL) and cylindrical platform (OU). NSSL is also collaborating with the FAA on an Advanced 

Technology Demonstrator (ATD) upgrade to replace the SPY-1A passive phased array radar at 

the National Weather Radar Testbed (NWRT) with an active array dual polarization antenna. 

This replacement should be completed during FY18.

Federal Aviation Administration

Aviation Weather Research Program (AWRP)

The FAA’s AWRP performs applied research intended to mitigate the impact of weather on the 

NAS. Weather Program projects and initiatives:

• Support achievement of specific NextGen weather Operational Improvements as described 

in NextGen Implementation Plan.

• Mitigate weather related NAS safety and/or traffic flow efficiency issues with a line of sight to 

operations and existing and planned ATM systems supporting operations.

• Support the evolution of legacy weather capabilities that meet the weather information 

needs of today’s NAS users into the capabilities that fulfill the NextGen weather vision. This 

work is conducted in collaboration with the FAA’s designated weather provider, the National 

Weather Service (NWS).

The AWRP’s applied research focuses on advancing the state of weather information such that 

it can be exploited for integration into NextGen decision-support. This advanced weather information is expected to enhance NAS safety and capacity by supporting better operational plan2-77
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ning and decision-making by operational users including air traffic managers, flight dispatchers, 

and pilots. In the near and midterm, some research will support tools and methodologies used 

by NWS forecasters to improve the accuracy and relevancy of legacy weather products and 

services still mandated by FAA regulatory guidance and/or international agreement.

Service Analysis

Weather Research for Service Analysis is a critical analysis of the various technologies for 

translating weather information into aviation constraints, and the application of the constraints to 

quantify operational impacts. Major areas of work include: Conducting climatology assessments, 

operational impact assessments, and gap analysis to validate a potential weather issue, identify 

opportunities and propose workable solutions; Conducting research associated with the Air Traffic Management (ATM) Weather Integration Plan for the Next Generation Air Transportation 

System (NextGen); Providing critical analyses of the various technologies for translating weather information into aviation constraints, and the application of the constraints to quantify operational impacts; and determining which technologies address constraints and which address impacts. This work can be conducted as an independent assessment or as part of the New Service Needs as initial input into the Mission Analysis phase of the Acquisition Management System (AMS) lifecycle.

Observations

Advanced Weather Radar Techniques (AWRT) research focuses on monitoring and improving 

the quality of information derived from weather radar networks, specifically techniques and 

products that improve weather support to aviation. This research has resulted in techniques for 

mitigating gaps in those networks to produce the Multi-Radar, Multi-Sensor (MRMS) capability. 

MRMS derives information from the Weather Surveillance Radar 88D (WSR-88D), TDWR, and 

a growing base of international weather radar networks and seamlessly integrates them into an 

all-weather radar network to form high resolution, three dimensional mosaics. Current efforts 

include incorporation of Caribbean weather radars into MRMS, developing methods to better 

identify types of precipitation by rain, snow, ice pellets or freezing rain depending on radar signatures and integrating new turbulence and icing detection algorithms into MRMS.

Forecasts and Modeling

In-Flight Icing

This research is aimed at developing improvements to in-flight icing diagnosis and forecasting 

with a goal of reducing the rate of aircraft icing related accidents and fatalities for aircraft operations in the NAS. Over the continental United States, the Current Icing Product High Resolution 

(CIP-HiRes) and Forecast Icing Product High Resolution (FIP-HiRes) have been developed to 

provide hourly updates of current and forecast in-flight icing conditions out to 18 hours. These 

products include probability and severity of icing conditions, as well as super-cooled large drop 

potential. CIP-HiRes and FIP-HiRes products are available to all NAS users on ADDS, hosted 

on the AviationWeather.gov site, which provides comprehensive user-friendly aviation weather 

graphics including icing, turbulence, and convection. Current research efforts include development of a current and forecast icing product for Alaska, and development of enhanced icing 

weather diagnosis and forecast algorithms using weather parameters including liquid water content, drop size, and temperature. The latter research effort called Model of Icing Conditions for 

Real-Time Operations (MICRO) will be used to produce future ice accretion products that will 

likely apply to a particular class of aircraft (prop, turboprop, jet, etc.) for use in the NAS by pilots 

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and flight crews in avoiding hazardous icing areas. Planned future efforts also include development of a global (oceanic routes) forecast icing product. 

Research was completed in FY2011 to enhance efficiency and safety during winter terminal operations through the development of a prototype for Liquid Water Equivalent Rate System 

(LWES) specification for determining holdover times more accurately than those from currently 

used visibility tables. Results from this research are being incorporated into the development of 

the Terminal Area Icing Weather Information for NextGen (TAIWIN) capability. The goal of the 

TAIWIN effort is to develop a comprehensive terminal area ground and in-flight icing weather 

capability (for use by pilots, air traffic and ground de-icing operations) to provide terminal area 

icing weather information for operational decision-making.

Additionally research is on-going for high altitude turbine engine icing forecasts. The project is 

called High Ice Water Content (HIWC). The purpose of the project is to improve diagnosis and 

forecast of high altitude ice crystal icing in deep convective clouds which can cause temporary 

engine shut-down and loss of power including damage to engine compressor blades. More than 

140 ice crystal engine power loss events have occurred in the last 18 years. The goal is to prevent flights from flying through areas of high ice water content.

Convective Weather

Convective weather is a critical area of research due to the considerable impact thunderstorms 

have on NAS operations. These storms contribute to delays, diversions and cancellations, along 

with well-documented effects on safety and capacity. The FAA’s AWRP Convective Weather 

Research Program seeks to address this problem by: (1) Exploring how thunderstorm information is used to make decisions and assessing the need for improved dissemination and 

communication of this information; (2) Increasing the fundamental understanding of how thunderstorms form, behave, and impact the NAS; and (3) Developing advanced thunderstorm analysis and predictive capabilities.

The following research projects are underway: (1) Improve the blending of different weather 

model types for prediction of convective storms in the 1-4 hour time frame; (2) Conduct user 

evaluations and begin transition to operations of a technology to estimate radar-like precipitation 

intensity and echo top height of storms beyond radar range that combines global lightning data, 

satellite data, and output from numerical weather prediction models with existing radar mosaics; 

(3) Improve an initial probabilistic convective weather hazard guidance for oceanic regions from 

0 – 36 hours; and (4) Identify and quantify the impacts of ramp closures due to lightning threats 

on NAS efficiency and safety of ground personnel, and determine if inefficiencies in lightning 

procedures (or the lack of procedures) can be mitigated with streamlined and consistent decision support guidance. In addition to the specific areas of research identified above, convective 

weather research will also support the initiatives of the Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) 

community and work to improve the prediction of other convective weather hazards such as 

hail, windshear, and turbulence. 

Turbulence

This research has focused on producing real-time turbulence nowcasts and probabilistic forecasts of turbulence. The method utilized in meeting these objectives is a turbulence-forecasting 

capability in conjunction with two supporting sensor capabilities: one for in-situ detection of turbulence and the second for remote sensing of turbulence. The in-situ work has resulted in the 

deployment of an aircraft-based Eddy Dissipation Rate (EDR) turbulence detection algorithm on 

aircraft at Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines. The remote sensing work has 

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targeted the use of data from the NEXRAD radar network. Data from the NEXRAD Turbulence 

Detection Algorithm, currently operational on NEXRAD, will be used as input for the production 

of a turbulence analysis (nowcast) product. 

Ceiling and Visibility (C&V)

Unexpected low ceilings and restricted visibility conditions are a contributing factor in over 30% 

of all General Aviation weather-related accidents. In addition, C&V can significantly disrupt terminal operations by degrading an airport’s arrival rate and, in more severe cases, closing the 

airport entirely. This research is focused on developing an improved national-scale gridded 

analysis of ceiling and visibility conditions. These improved C&V products will take advantage of 

scientific advances in numerical weather modeling to provide information of conditions over data-sparse or data-void areas between instrumented airfields. This research also seeks to incorporate data harvested from satellite imagery and FAA weather cameras into the gridded forecasts. These automated, rapidly-updated C&V products will support NextGen requirements as 

well as provide NWS forecasters with critical information to help keep pilots safe. The FAA is 

working with the NWS to more effectively and efficiently integrate numerical model output and 

C&V algorithms into the production of NWS terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs) and area forecasts (FAs). Similarly, some of these advanced, automated capabilities will eventually be provided directly to Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) and NAS operational decision makers. Currently, a gridded national C&V analysis (CVA) uses frequently updated C&V data from 

airfield observations to display C&V conditions as an automated national gridded display available via ADDS, hosted on the AviationWeather.gov site. C&V forecast information will eventually 

be provided hourly in both probabilistic and deterministic form to support both human users and 

future automated decision support systems. This research will also improve output from the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) display tool used in certain helicopter operations to 

facilitate their No-Go decisions. This year, the HEMS tool application has transitioned to NWS 

operations on the popular aviationweather.gov website.

Volcanic Ash 

The FAA continues to lead the U.S.’s efforts to ensure the nation’s air transportation system 

maintains an excellent safety record for operations in air space contaminated with volcanic ash.

Following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in April 2010, the FAA participated 

in the ICAO Volcanic Ash Task Force. This task force primary mission was to develop a global 

safety risk management framework to determine safe levels of operation in airspace contaminated by volcanic ash and deal with the issues from large volcanic eruptions that disrupt global 

air transportation. That volcanic event, which centered in Europe, caused global disruption in 

the aviation community, resulting in cancelations and delays of flights. 

The FAA is taking the lead, in cooperation with other U.S. agencies and international partners, 

in the following areas and initiatives: 

• Development of a Concept of Operations for volcanic ash information in support of air traffic 

operations and management

• Development of a collaborative forecasting model to support the information exchange and 

collaboration between various Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers as well as Meteorological 

Watch Office, Air Navigation Service Providers, and Airline Operations Centers in volcanic 

ash cloud analysis and forecasts

• Support an engine testing initiative for volcanic ash

• Other efforts supported by various U.S. agencies and international partners include:

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• Continued research efforts to improve volcanic ash dispersion and transport models, which 

are key to providing improved forecasts of the location of ash clouds

• Improvements in volcano monitoring and the detection and reporting of volcano eruptions

• Initial documentation of best practices for the VAACs

The successful completion of these programs will result in improvements to the air transportation system, which will reduce the economic impacts from large volcanic eruptions and ensure 

no decline in safety.

Model Development and Enhancement (MD&E)

This AWRP research is targeted at developing and improving weather prediction models and 

data assimilation systems to better characterize the state of the atmosphere with the goal of 

providing superior aviation weather information to enhance NAS safety and efficiency. These 

assimilation and prediction systems utilize all the latest weather observations and advanced supercomputers to create the most accurate and timely depiction of the future state of the weather. The future weather information output from these computer models serves as the underpinning for virtually all weather guidance for turbulence, inflight icing, convective weather, ceiling 

and visibility, winds, and winter weather beyond the first one-two hours. 

This research has been a collaborative partnership of the FAA, NOAA, and the National Center 

for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to build the Grid-point Statistical Interpolation (GSI) data assimilation system and Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) modeling framework. GSI and 

WRF provide a common framework that can accept enhancements from the broader weather 

research community. Key accomplishments have been the implementation into NWS operations of the hourly-updated Rapid Refresh (RAP) and the High Resolution Rapid Refresh 

(HRRR) models. These models have yielded better wind forecasts and improved diagnoses 

and forecasts of weather hazardous to aviation, including turbulence, convective weather, 

in-flight icing, and ceiling and visibility over an expanded domain including Alaska and oceanic areas. In addition, the models have resulted in improved storm-scale resolution of convective activity to support air traffic management decisions.

Current efforts are focused on RAP and HRRR improvements in data assimilation, resolution, 

and physics to enhance convective weather, turbulence, ceiling and visibility, and icing forecasts 

as well as expanding to global coverage. Efforts are also underway to develop ensemble forecast systems based upon the RAP, the HRRR, and other NOAA forecast models that will provide probabilities and measures of uncertainty in the forecast.

Weather Technology in the Cockpit (WTIC)

The purpose of this NextGen weather research 

program is to reduce the negative impacts of adverse weather conditions on aircraft operations by 

developing, verifying, and validating recommendations to support airworthiness standards and 

guidance material for enabling availability and improving the quality and quantity of meteorological 

(MET) information available to the aircraft. There 

are numerous research projects within the WTIC 

Figure 9: Weather in the Cockpit.

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portfolio to achieve the overall project goal of recommending a 1

Minimum Weather Service 

(MinWxSvc) that will enhance pilot weather decision-making when faced with adverse weather 

conditions. The portfolio of projects will perform the research necessary to address the overarching WTIC research questions (the specific FAR Part 91 and FAR Part 121/135 research

questions will be delineated below). Instrumental in gaining answers to these questions is research to identify gaps / shortfalls in MET information in the cockpit, the pilot understanding and 

interpretation of that information, the technology associated with presenting that information, 

and any operational, efficiency or safety risks associated with these gaps and shortfalls. A brief 

summary of several WTIC research projects are detailed in the following subsections.

General Aviation(GA) Minimum Weather Service

The GA research efforts are focused on the identification of causal factors for GA weatherrelated accidents and incidents, the gaps associated with the presentation of MET information in 

the cockpit, and the means to address those gaps. The specific WTIC GA research questions to 

be addressed are:

• What are the GA weather-related accident and incident causal factors, and the safety hazards and risks with the potential to become a causal factor?

• What is the minimum MET information needed in the GA cockpit? 

• What are the minimum performance parameters of the MET information for the cockpit? 

• What are the minimum rendering standards needed to enable proper interpretation of the 

minimum MET information in the cockpit and to enable consistent, safe, and enhanced pilot 

weather effective decision-making? 

• What are the gaps and shortfalls in pilot understanding and proper use of the MET information and technology, and what training is needed to address these gaps and shortfalls?

Research projects associated with the GA MinWxSvc include defining information required to 

aid GA pilots in adverse weather decision-making conducting causality analyses to identify, 

quantify, and assess gaps or issues associated with the use of cockpit MET information and 

technologies. Additional research will include assessing the feasibility to develop agile, low latency, adverse weather cockpit notifications that require minimal cognitive processing by the 

pilot. The GA MinWxSvc effort will also evaluate the utility of selected current MET products as 

decision support tools in high stress flight scenarios, and review issues associated with transition from Visual Flight Rules (VFR) into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) to determine pilot weather decision making trends.

The Mobile MET Application project is researching MET information that provides benefits to the 

cockpit when presented on a mobile application. In addition, it is also researching limitations and 

capabilities of existing technology to support the concept of operation for this mobile application. 

Phases I through III of this research project were successfully completed and recommendations 

originating from these phases will be included as GA MinWxSvc recommendations.

1 The term “minimum weather service” as used in this document is defined as the minimum 

weather information (MinWxSvc) content required in cockpits along with the associated parameters of that information, such as reliability, accuracy, update rates, and spatial resolution. The 

minimum weather service will also include rendering recommendations to reduce the likelihood 

of interpretation errors.

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Phases I through III of the WTIC Human Factors Standardization Assessment project have also 

been completed. Results indicate statistically significant variations in pilot awareness of adverse 

weather events. Specifically, the recognition by pilots of METARs (surface observations) changing from indicating VMC to IMC at their destination or alternate airports was far below expectations. During the Phase IV efforts, possible resolutions such as salience and notifications will be 

examined as potential solutions.

As part of the effort to address GA accidents and incidents associated with inadvertent VFR into 

IMC occurrences and ceiling and visibility risk factors, the WTIC Program is engaged in research to evaluate the feasibility of using crowd-sourcing and cloud technologies to identify, 

evaluate, and present more current visibility information to the pilot. The current research effort 

is using ground-based webcams to evaluate current visibility conditions.

The WTIC program is performing research to develop inputs for improving pilot training relative 

to MET information and MET display technology. This research entails the development of scenario based self-study online weather training and the revision and development of pilot written 

weather exam questions. Sample test questions are also being developed for research to assess pilot weather knowledge and retention.

The Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS) , the FAA’s current Center of Excellence for GA research, has developed a device called 

the Weather Information Latency Demonstrator (WILD) which has the ability to vary the latency 

of MET information to simulate differences between cockpit MET information presentations and 

out-the-window (OTW) visual information. The benefits of the capabilities of the WILD for pilot 

training are being evaluated.

Part 121 / 135 Minimum Weather Service 

The Part 121 / 135 research efforts are focused on the identification of weather-related operational, efficiency, and safety risks associated with the availability and presentation of MET information in the cockpit, and the means to address those risks. The specific WTIC FAR Part 

121/135 research questions to be addressed are:

• What are the current operational inefficiencies and safety risks, by phases of flight, attributable to shortfalls of MET information in the cockpit?

• What are the potential NextGen operational inefficiencies and safety risks attributable to 

shortfalls of MET information in the cockpit?

• What is the minimum MET information needed in the 121 /135 cockpit? 

• What are the minimum performance parameters of the MET information for the cockpit? 

• What are the minimum rendering standards needed to enable correct interpretation of the 

minimum MET information in the cockpit and to enable consistent, safe, and effective pilot 

weather decision-making? 

• What are the gaps and shortfalls in pilot understanding and proper use of the MET information and technology, and what training is needed to address these gaps and shortfalls?

The WTIC program In Situ Turbulence project was successful in integrating turbulence information (objective and forecast) into NAS operations, both during the strategic flight planning 

process as well as the process of re-routing aircraft during flight.

The effort assessed the feasibility of using a PC tablet application displaying Graphical Turbulence Guidance (GTG) and EDR information in the cockpit. The capability was successfully 

demonstrated and received a positive response from the pilot participants. An EDR Quantifica2-83
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

tion of Benefits to the NAS was also conducted as part of this turbulence research. Significant 

efficiency and workload savings were determined through analysis of the objective flight data. 

Part 121 / 135 MinWxSvc recommendations were identified associated with rendering of turbulence information in the cockpit as well as a Technical Transfer Package to the airlines for 

equipping their aircraft with the EDR algorithm and implementation of the PC tablet application.

The WTIC program MET Information in Oceanic and Remote Regions Shortfall Analyses project 

identified current operational inefficiencies, potential NextGen operational inefficiencies, and 

potential safety risks (current and NextGen) attributable to gaps of MET information in the cockpit in oceanic and other remote regions. Additional research has begun that will quantify the 

benefits of addressing the identified shortfalls / gaps. MET information outputs identified from 

this new phase of research will feed into the planned oceanic operational flight demonstration 

mentioned earlier.

The WTIC program successfully completed human-over-the-loop (HOTL) simulations that 

demonstrated the feasibility, benefits, and effectiveness of a turbulence notification in aiding pilot decision making for cabin management. Future research is necessary to determine how the 

notification information will be broadcast (i.e. communication link) and to whom the notification 

will be provided (i.e. flight specific or broadcast).

This WTIC Wind Information Requirements for NextGen Applications project includes research 

to provide accurate and timely wind information to Flight Management Systems (FMSs), and 

quantify any predicted benefits to associated NextGen application programs (e.g., Trajectory 

Based Operations (TBO), Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN), Interval 

Management). This project is focused on defining elements of wind quality that impact NextGen 

application programs and performing simulations to assess those impacts based on varying 

wind quality. Phases I through IV have been completed and have developed, refined, and utilized a Wind Information Analysis Framework to explore wind information needs across applications, analyzed the performance of publically available forecasts versus aircraft-derived conditions, and evaluated if augmented FMS wind modeling would provide an improvement in Interval Management performance. This research activity is also supporting the efforts of RTCA 

Special Committee SC-206 (Aeronautical Information and Meteorological Data Link Services) in 

developing a “winds guidance” document. The intent of this industry standard is to provide guidance for the methodology of reporting and recommended quality of wind information necessary 

to support operations such as Interval Management and 4D TBO.

The WTIC program continues to work closely with multiple RTCA Special Committees to collaboratively develop standards and guidance material associated with the delivery and presentation 

of MET information in the cockpit. The most extensive support is provided to RTCA SC-206, 

Aeronautical Information and Meteorological Data Link Services, and their efforts to develop 

recommendations for data link architecture and the dissemination of MET information between 

aircraft and ground users.

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CLIMATE SERVICES

For the purposes of this Federal Plan, Climate Services are specialized meteorological and 

hydrological services established to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local agencies for information on the historical, current, and future state of the earth system. Climate 

services include observations, monitoring, assessments, predictions, and projections of the 

atmosphere, hydrosphere, and land surface systems.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

NOAA/National Weather Service

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) 

provides climate services through the National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s (NCEP) 

Climate Prediction Center (CPC), the NWS Climate Services Branch (CSB), and more than 150 

NWS regional and local offices nationwide. The NWS Climate Services Branch (CSB) provides 

programmatic support to CPC and NWS local offices. In collaboration with other NOAA offices, 

CSB develops training, education and outreach materials. CSB designs climate data mining and 

analysis tools, as well as local climate products for users of climate information. CSD fosters 

climate services ties with other NOAA offices, federal government agencies, academia and external climate communities.

CPC delivers a broad range of products and services including climate monitoring and forecasts, as well as regional climate impacts information. The product suite spans time scales from 

a week to seasons, extending into the future as far as technically feasible, and covers the land, 

the ocean and the atmosphere. CPC also identifies the important physical factors responsible 

for variability, anomalies, and trends in global and regional climate in order to improve these 

products. The NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs), River Forecast Centers (RFCs), and 

Weather Service Offices (WSOs) use these products to deliver climate services to local users. 

Together with NWS regional offices, WFOs, RFCs, and WSOs are responsible for collecting 

climate data, developing locally-relevant products, and conducting local climate studies in response to user needs. Applications include the mitigation of weather-related natural disasters 

and uses in agriculture, energy, transportation, water resources, and health. Additionally, WFOs 

issue daily and monthly climate reports for their areas of responsibility, providing localized information about temperature and precipitation records and extreme events such as droughts. 

WFOs serve as the local NOAA user interface for climate services, including outreach and education. They are also responsible for the integrity and continuity of the historical climate record 

for their area of responsibility. 
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

NOAA/NESDIS

National Centers for Environmental Information/Center for Weather and 

Climate formerly known as the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)

The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI, see www.ncei.noaa.gov), Center for 

Weather and Climate (CWC) is the trusted authority for U.S. and global retrospective weather 

and climate data and related environmental information. CWC provides the nation with environmental intelligence for decision-making through use-inspired applied science, the resulting 

products and services, and authoritative assessments and monitoring. Science at CWC is peerreviewed, applied research that transforms data into authoritative, accessible, and actionable 

information. CWC’s product lines and services reflect the needs of customers representing the 

breadth of economic sectors at local, regional, national, and global scales. 

CWC operates a reference surface observing network, sustains baseline historical data records 

that incorporate satellite and surface observations, and actively contributes to climate and 

weather monitoring and assessment efforts of national and international significance. Environmental information—from the stone age to the space age, e.g., from paleoclimate data to present in situ, atmospheric, ocean, and satellite data—are the basis for the CWC’s sustained science and services commitment to all users. 

The State of the Climate in 2015 Report. The “State of the Climate” 

(http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/bams-state-of-the-climate/) series has provided a detailed update on 

global climate indicators, notable weather events, and data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments since the report’s inception in 1990. For the 16th consecutive year, 

CWC (formerly known as the National Climatic Data Center, or NCDC) and CCOG (formerly 

known as the National Oceanographic Data Center) scientists served as lead editors and authors of the report, which was compiled by approximately 400 scientists from over 50 countries 

across the globe and published as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological 

Society. For the fourth year, the report was accompanied by an online rollout at 

http://www.climate.gov, providing easy access to key themes of the report for the public.

The report used dozens of internationally recognized climate indicators to track and identify 

changes and trends in the global climate system. Each indicator included thousands of measurements from multiple independent datasets. The diverse array of international authors helped 

consolidate this wide range of data, using their expertise to more fully understand and communicate the state of the complex climate system. The report provided a valuable reference for 

the increasing number of professionals and consultants who use climate conditions and trends 

in their work.

NCEI Website and Home Page. NCEI developed an integrated website landing page from 

the previous NOAA Data Centers and redesigned components of the previous NOAA Data Centers websites by simplifying access to systems, data, and services. In addition, more efficient 

maintenance was implemented and Google Analytics was introduced to better analyze website 

traffic and anticipate customer needs. This enhanced redesign now allows better navigation for 

major topical areas, including data access and information, as well as streamlines content and 

data access systems into logical groupings. Customers are now able to easily gather pertinent 

data and information for their needs and operations. Additional benefits from this redesign include simplified hardware and software support, enhanced security, and better use of personnel 

resources by streamlining maintenance.

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Reference Environmental Data Records (REDR) Program. Formerly the Climate Data Records (CDR) Program, REDR transforms use-inspired science research results into operational 

data products in order to meet the growing historical needs of local, state, and federal government, industry, and academia. The REDR Program has amplified the investment of hundreds of 

millions of federal research dollars, particularly in NASA and NOAA, by transitioning the Nation’s 

best, most mature research-grade algorithms to NOAA operations. The REDR Program’s accurate determination of observed environmental patterns and trends helps the Nation to better 

prosper and be resilient to climate changes.

• The REDR Program generates and sustains a portfolio of operational satellite and in situ 

REDRs that are required for operational decision-making, environmental and climate policy 

development, catastrophic risk assessment, and national, state, and regional climate assessment and information products. 

• The REDR Program provides continuing return on investments past the lifetime of major 

NOAA, DoD, and other meteorological observing investments, including satellites such as 

POES, GOES, NPP, DMSP and future JPSS and GOES-R instruments.

Record-Setting Volumes of Data. NCEI archives data to preserve them for posterity from 

every corner of the globe, including land-based, marine, model, radar, weather balloon, satellite, 

and paleoclimate data. CWC routinely incorporates, stewards, and provides access to these 

data to meet the needs of a wide variety of customers. In 2014, NCEI planned for vast increases 

in data requests, implemented new archival storage and access practices to reduce the cost of 

archive and delivery of data, and made improvements to the information technology infrastructure to proficiently handle increases in data delivery. NCEI upgraded the system used to retrieve 

data from the digital archives in order to improve efficiency and reduce data delivery times for 

radar and satellite orders. For more information, see NCEI’s Data Access page, 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access.

Alaska Climate Division Data. NCEI scientists and climate services professionals worked 

with stakeholders in Alaska to identify, define, and implement 13 climate divisions within Alaska. 

These climate divisions are now serviced by near-real-time climate data, with a record that extends back to 1925. Alaska’s near-real-time climate-division data services are now on par with 

those for the contiguous United States. The establishment of these divisions will allow for an 

expanded suite of prediction services from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) Expansion in the State of Alaska. The USCRN 

Program, managed by NCEI, has been working to expand the network in Alaska since 2009. As 

of the end of 2014, a total of 16 stations have been installed and are operating across Alaska. 

During summer 2015, two new sites were installed in the Denali National Park and Preserve 

and in the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, bringing the total number of operational sites in 

Alaska to 18. The plan is to install a total of 29 USCRN stations in Alaska by the end of 2022. 

Data from the USCRN stations in Alaska, as well as the 114 stations in the lower 48 states, and 

two in Hawaii, are available at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/crn/.

Regional Climate Services. The Regional Climate Services (RCS) program focuses on defining requirements and developing products, services, and information access services for a 

broad range of users across the Nation. These efforts are supported by six Regional Climate 

Service Directors (RCSDs) in the six NWS Regional areas. The RCSDs assess the needs of 

public and private sector users at the local, state, regional, and federal levels and leverage the 

work of CWC, as well as the Center for Coasts, Oceans, and Geophysics’ (CCOG) coastal data 

development activities to ensure broad, national, comprehensive data and information for issues 

related to the interaction of land and coastal physical, biological, and chemical processes. 

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• The six RCSDs work closely with six independent, public-private sector Regional Climate 

Centers (RCCs) that focus on addressing local, state, and regional climate services and issues. Each RCC is located on a university campus, receives NOAA funding for a portion of 

their operations, and provides a range of services and products to NOAA, state and local 

agencies, businesses, and other stakeholders.

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations

NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown, an oceanographic and atmospheric research platform, is the 

largest vessel in the NOAA fleet (274 feet). With its instruments and sensors, Ronald H. Brown

sails worldwide, supporting scientific studies to increase our understanding of the world's 

oceans and climate. 

The Ronald H. Brown typically supports research programs of NOAA's Tropical AtmosphereOcean (TAO, http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/) Project (real-time data from moored ocean buoys 

for improved detection, understanding and prediction of El Niño and La Niña). The primary objective for the ship is servicing some of the approximately 60 Autonomous Temperature Line 

Acquisition Systems (ATLAS) and current meter moorings in the central and eastern equatorial 

Pacific. The Ronald H. Brown works in cooperation with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to conduct mooring recovery and deployment operations of the Stratus Ocean Reference 

Station, located under the stratocumulus clouds off Chile and Peru. The ship conducts meteorological and air-sea flux observations to document and establish the accuracy of the moored metrological observations and to observe oceanic and atmospheric variability. This region is of critical importance to climate predictability. 

Ronald H. Brown conducts the PIRATA Northeast Extension (PNE; 

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/phod/pne/index.php) project, a joint project of Brazil, France, and the 

United States. The overarching goal is to improve knowledge and understanding of oceanatmosphere variability in the tropical Atlantic. The ship will also be conducting the CalWater 2 

project in the Pacific. The goal of this work is to develop and test methods to improve U. S. 

West Coast forecasts of damaging landfalling winter storms emerging from the data sparse Pacific Ocean. The project will involve multiple air and sea research platforms.

The WP-3D, G-IV, and DHC-6 aircraft will take part in several projects for the Office of Oceanic 

and Atmospheric research. In January, the G-IV will conduct the CalWater 2016 project studying 

high-altitude winds via NOAA airborne radar with the goal of improved weather and air-quality 

forecasts. During the summer, the DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft will conduct a BioLidar mission in 

the Gulf of Mexico region. This mission will use an aerosol sensor and a Doppler Lidar to understand how atmospheric particles can influence weather and climate via cloud production, precipitation, and light scattering with the goal of improved understanding atmospheric chemistry. One 

of NOAA’s other DHC-6 aircraft with conduct the Arctic Heat project in Alaska during June and 

July. This project will help increase understanding of the complex processes that produce variability in the Arctic ecosystem with the goal of improvements in weather and sea-ice forecasting.

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United States Air Force 

The Air Force provides centralized climatology services and produces specialized weathereffects information for the DoD, Intelligence Community, and allied nations. The Air Force provides decision-enabling products, allowing DoD command authorities to anticipate and thus exploit environmental impacts on all aspects of military operations worldwide and enhances the 

combat capability of the United States by delivering climate-based environmental situational 

awareness to the Air Force, the Army, Unified Combatant Commands, the Intelligence Community, and the Department of 

Defense. The Air Force 

produces a suite of standard and tailored products 

such as Operational Climatic Data Summaries, 

Engineering Weather Data, 

Wind Roses, and Wind 

Stratified Conditional Climatologies, among others, 

and provides frequency of 

occurrence and duration for 

mission-limiting factors. In 

addition to climatology 

products, the Air Force is 

able to provide forensic 

weather research, climate 

analysis, and climate monitoring and prediction. The 

Air Force employs an 

online climatology toolkit 

with geospatial information 

system-compatible spatial 

and cloud climatologies.

These technologies provide 

DoD decision-makers with the data needed to optimally plan and execute operations.

Long-range outlook products cover time periods from one to six months into the future, and include seasonal forecasts and hazard assessments. The Air Force produces 6-month graphical 

outlooks derived by using statistical methods, with an ensemble of Global Climate Model forecasts, considering the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation, Southern 

Annular Mode, etc., in order to provide planners with a risk management tool to assess effects 

on future operations.

Figure 1: The Air Force collects and analyzes climate data and information, providing tailored climatology services to DoD, the Intelligence 

Community and specified Allies. These regional climate products help 

the end-user assess and mitigate future operational impacts.

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United States Navy

Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet directs Task Force Climate Change to address climate change 

for national security and naval operations, by ensuring the Navy is ready and capable to meet 

all mission requirements in accordance with the Arctic Roadmap. The Roadmap recognizes the 

earth is warming, the oceans are storing the heat, and the Arctic region is experiencing the most 

rapid effects of climate change. A preponderance of independent scientific evidence substantiates these changes and they are widely agreed upon within the scientific community. Having a 
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

more reliable Arctic model and more accurate sea ice forecast would make it much safer for surface ships to operate there. 

Navy is investing in significant Arctic research. It is important that it improve its understanding of 

the environment for safety of operations, because the Arctic will remain a harsh and challenging 

environment even as it becomes more accessible and active. This line of effort includes an emphasis on research to better understand the changing climate and improve Arctic weather forecast capabilities, and on high resolution surveying of the seabed. 

Naval installations may be at risk from rising sea levels, water resource challenges, wildfires, 

and extreme weather events. Navy's approach to mitigating these risks uses DOD-approved 

methodologies to map critical infrastructure on all its installations and work with an interagency 

group to predict local sea level rise. These assessments will be used to develop partnerships 

with the local communities and respond to near-term high-risk infrastructure vulnerabilities and 

plan for future infrastructure development. The Oceanographer has joined with NOAA and Old 

Dominion University in a pilot project for Hampton Roads, VA. Similar partnerships with other 

universities, research institutions, and various analyses groups will ensure our efforts are informed by the best and latest science and technology initiatives to leverage their expertise and 

share costs. These partnerships will provide valuable lessons learned for determining the way 

forward.

Figure 2: Private contractors conducting sea level rise surveys in North Carolina

Climate change and energy are two key issues that will play a significant role in shaping the futures security environment. Working closely with U.S. departments and agencies, the Department of Defense has undertaken environmental security cooperative initiatives with foreign militaries that represent a way of building trust through sharing best practices on installations management and operations. The DOD Climate Change Adaption Roadmap will review:

• Installation master plans to guide development activities

• Integrated Natural Resource Management Plans/Cultural Resource Management Plans

• Design and construction plans

• Encroachment management plans and programs

• Storm water management and other utility systems

• Facility maintenance and repair cost models

• Installation-level water resource management plans

• Emergency preparedness and response planning activities.

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Figure 3: U.S. submarine participating in Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2016. 

The Arctic Council, founded in 1996, is the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic states and Indigenous communities on 

common Arctic issues. ICEX 2016 involved 150 participants during three3 weeks of operation ,

including :

• 35 Organizations, supporting over 25 test objectives

• 4 Services: Navy, Coast Guard, Army, and Air National Guard

• 4 federal agencies: DoD, DoI, DHS, and DoS

• 3 Allied Nations: UK, Canada, Norway

• Canada to provide Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) transport aircraft and Royal Canadian 

Navy (RCN) dive team

• Norway – First involvement in ICEX. Sending observer in expectation of future participation 

• Academia (Naval Post Graduate School (NPGS), MIT and University of Washington-APL)

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is both a provider of and user of climate-related 

services, but the balance between these two activities is quite different from that of NOAA. The 

USGS provides climate data and models, like NOAA, that can be used by resource managers 

and policy makers to anticipate and adapt to climate change. The USGS climate and land use 

change science program, however, also has a strong emphasis on understanding relationships 

between climate change and hydrological, geologic, and biological processes.

USGS has expertise and numerous research projects and products that describe long-term 

changes in the Earth’s climate. The climatic datasets developed by the USGS are based primarily on Earth surface and subsurface records, in contrast to the atmospheric records developed 

by NOAA. USGS climatic datasets are derived from ice sheets, glaciers, and permafrost; tree 

rings, landscape-scale phenology, and other biological data; and rock, sediments, and other 

paleodeposits, in addition to modern meteorologic, hydrologic, and remote sensing instrumentation. The USGS manages an international ice core facility in Denver, Colorado, and has numerous studies devoted to understanding the natural variability of climate and its attendant changes 

and to providing context for the development of mitigation and adaptation strategies. The Ice 

Core Laboratory is just one example of the services provided by the USGS to the scientific 

community engaged in understanding the Earth’s climate history. Another good example of the 

climate services provided by the USGS is the Department of the Interior’s network of regional 

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Climate Science Centers. These centers are staffed by the USGS and have research and information delivery capabilities designed to respond to the needs of natural resource managers.

Department of State (DOS)

Stratospheric ozone depletion has been recognized as a critical health and environmental problem for almost three decades. Under Department of State (DOS) leadership, the United States 

worked to negotiate international agreements to phase out ozone-depleting substances, which 

are expected to lead to a recovery of the ozone layer by the middle of this century. In 2009 

these treaties became the first to achieve universal ratification; 197 countries, including the 

United States, have ratified both the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol. The State 

Department makes annual contributions to the Vienna Convention’s efforts on scientific monitoring of the ozone layer.

Figure 4: The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report is comprised of the contributions from the three working 

groups: (1) The Physical Science Basis (Sept 2013, http://climatechange2013.org/); (2) Impacts, Adaptation & 

Vulnerability (Mar 2014, http://ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/report/); and (3) Mitigation (Apr 2014, 

http://mitigation2014.org), as well as a Synthesis Report that will be released in Oct 2014.

The IPCC, which was established by the WMO and the United Nations Environment Program 

(UNEP), held its first session in 1988. This organization serves as an intergovernmental forum 

to assess scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information relevant for the understanding of 

climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and mitigation. In doing so, the 

Panel draws on the expertise of thousands of scientists and technical experts. The IPCC is currently organized into three working groups, which examine (1) the state of the science, (2) impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, and (3) mitigation. In 2013-14, the IPCC completed its Fifth 

Assessment Report, which is comprised of the three working group contributions listed above, 

as well as a Synthesis Report [see image] and two Special Reports (one on Renewable Energy 

and the other on Extreme Events). In addition to preparing assessment reports, the IPCC also 

contributes to international negotiations of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 

(UNFCCC) through the development of guidance for the development of national greenhouse 

gas inventories. More recently, the IPCC is ramping up efforts for its 6th Assessment Report 

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(AR6) cycle. AR6 will include the same three working groups contributions and synthesis report noted above, as well as an updated Methodological Report on National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Guidance 

and three Special Reports: (1) Impacts from and emissions pathways 

associated with global warming of 1.5°C; (2) Climate change, oceans & 

the cryosphere; and (3) Climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas 

fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. More information is available at 

http://www.ipcc.ch/

On the climate services front, the State Department supports the work 

being led by NOAA colleagues to ensure that the WMO’s Global 

Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) gets set-up smoothly and 

provides real value-added to the climate service domain. 

In addition to its primary role in the organizations listed above, DOS is 

active in several relevant Federal interagency processes, including the 

Committee on Environment and Natural Resources and Sustainability 

(CENRS) of the National Science and Technology Council, the Subcommittee on Global Change Research (SGCR) and the broader U.S. 

Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), several of its interagency Working Groups, as well as US Group on Earth Observations 

(USGEO) subcommittee and its interagency International Working 

Group. The CENRS was established in 1993 to coordinate domestic scientific programs. 

USGCRP was created in 2001 to “integrate Federal research on global change and climate 

change” across 13 Federal agencies (from 2001-2008, USGCRP was known as the Climate 

Change Science Program, or CCSP). In addition to the above, DOS responsibilities include, but 

are not limited to, international aspects of food security, disaster warnings and assistance, 

WMO (including the recently launched Global Framework for Climate Services) and UNEP activities (including the Climate and Clean Air Coalition), and international meteorological and 

Earth observing programs. 

Figure 5: The IPCC’s Fifth 

Assessment Report is 

comprised of the contributions from the three Working Groups (1) The Physical Science Basis [Sept 

2013], (2) Impacts, Adaptation & Vulnerability – released in two volumes [Mar 

2014], (3) Mitigation [Apr 

2014], and (4) Synthesis 

Report [Oct 2014].

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

Interagency Collaborative Research Programs and Projects 

U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP, http://www.globalchange.gov/agencies) 

is a Federal program mandated by Congress that coordinates and integrates global change research across 13 Federal agencies to most effectively and efficiently serve the Nation and the 

world. Through interagency partnerships and collaborations with leading experts, USGCRP 

works to advance climate science and improve the understanding of how global change is impacting society, both today and into the future. 

The vision laid out in USGCRP’s National Global Change Research Plan 2012–2021: A Strategic Plan for the U.S. Global Change Research Program

(http://www.globalchange.gov/browse/reports/national-global-change-research-plan2012%E2%80%932021-strategic-plan-us-global-change) maintains a clear emphasis on advancing global change science, but it also calls for a strengthened focus on ensuring USGCRP 

science informs real-world decisions and actions. USGCRP’s four strategic goals are to:

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1. Advance Science - Advance scientific knowledge of the integrated natural and human 

components of the Earth system to understand climate and global change.

2. Inform Decisions - Provide the scientific basis to inform and enable timely decisions on adaptation and mitigation.

3. Conduct Sustained Assessments - Build sustained assessment capacity that improves 

the Nation’s ability to understand, anticipate, and respond to global change impacts and vulnerabilities.

4. Communicate and Educate - Advance communication and education to broaden public 

understanding of global change and develop the scientific workforce of the future.

For more information, please refer to http://www.globalchange.gov/

NOAA/NESDIS

National Centers for Environmental Information/Center for Weather and 

Climate formerly known as the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)

Explaining Extreme Events of 2015 from a Climate Perspective. For the fifth year, 

CWC scientists are collaborating with their colleagues across the globe to examine the causes 

of certain extreme weather and climate events. Scientists from CWC served as part of the team 

of lead editors for the report, entitled “Explaining Extreme Events from a Climate Perspective” 

and published as a supplement to the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The report continues to grow, and last year 34 different research teams from around the world contributed to the peer-reviewed report that examined the causes of 30 extreme events that occurred 

on all seven continents during 2014. A report looking at events in 2015 is in development. In 

addition to investigating the causes of these extreme events, these reports include multiple 

analyses of a single event, allowing scientists to compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of their various analytic methods. Despite the different strategies, there was considerable agreement between the assessments of the same events, especially for heatwaves. By further developing the ability to put extreme weather and climate events into the longer-term context of climate change, NCEI is helping provide the public with the information needed to make 

decisions about effectively minimizing and preparing for the impacts of these events.

An Independent Record of Global Warming. In collaboration with researchers from the University of South Carolina, the University of Colorado, and the University of Bern in Switzerland, 

NCEI developed a compilation of temperature records based on data from ice cores, corals, and 

lake sediment layers that revealed a pattern of global warming from 1880 to 1995 comparable to 

the global warming trend recorded by thermometers. While the thermometer-based global surface temperature record provides meaningful evidence of global warming over the past century, 

it is critical to have independent analyses to verify that record, because it can be affected by 

such things as land-use changes, shifts in station locations, and variations in instrumentation. 

For this analysis, the team used environmentally sensitive proxies to compile a temperature 

record spanning 130 years that is independent from thermometer-based records. The research, 

which was detailed in “Global Warming in an Independent Record of the Past 130 

Years,”(http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/independent-evidence-confirms-global-warminginstrument-record) published in Geophysical Research Letters, resolved some of the uncertainty 

associated with thermometer records.

Regional Surface Temperatures for Six Continents and the Arctic. NCEI scientists helped 

construct a one-of-a-kind synthesis and analysis of temperatures over the last 2,000 years for 

six different continents and the Arctic. This effort is part of a large international effort under the 

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auspices of the Past Global Changes Programme of the International Geosphere-Biosphere 

Programme. These reconstructions cover the last millennium on annual-to-decadal timescales 

and extend into the first millennium of the Common Era, which began in 1 A.D., on annual-tomulti-decadal timescales. To date, scientists have produced 2,000 year-long annual-to-decadal 

temperature time series for the hemispheres and the globe, but not at the continental scale. 

For this project, NCEI scientists served as group leaders for the North American regional reconstruction and as part of the core writing team for the highly cited paper, “Continental-scale temperature variability during the last two millennia” in Nature Geoscience. NCEI also served as the 

data hub for the entire effort, producing state-of-the-art proxy and reconstruction datasets for the 

Common Era. Overall, this effort greatly extended the record of past climate and explicitly characterized uncertainties in the reconstructions. With these data, scientists will be able to better 

understand extremes in annual to decadal temperature fluctuations over the past 2,000 years in 

a way that is not possible using the instrumental record alone.

National Centers for Environmental Information/Center for 

Coasts, Oceans, and Geophysics

Sea Surface Temperature Datasets. The Niño 3.4 index is an important measure of El Niño 

Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions, which NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center uses to support ENSO monitoring and forecasting. The Niño 3.4 index is calculated based on two NCEI datasets: the Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (OISST, 

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sst/) dataset and the Extended Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature (ERSST, https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/marineocean-data/extendedreconstructed-sea-surface-temperature-ersst-v3b) dataset. 

Pathfinder Sea Surface Temperature (PSST, 

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/SatelliteData/pathfinder4km/) is a high-resolution, long time series of 

satellite sea surface temperature data. This operational reference environmental data record 

(REDR) is a primary source of information for numerous regional and global marine resource 

efforts, e.g., applications such as coral reef stress monitoring, local habitat characterization, as 

well as basic physical oceanographic work. The PSST REDR is recognized and utilized by the 

community as an authoritative source of information.

Global Gridded High Resolution Sea Surface Wind Blended From Multiple Satellite Observations. The NOAA NCEI Blended Sea Winds dataset contains globally gridded, highresolution ocean surface vector winds and wind stresses on a global 0.25° grid, and multiple 

time resolutions of six-hourly, daily, monthly, and 11-year (1995–2005) climatological monthlies. 

The period of record is July 9, 1987, to present. Blending observations from multiple satellites 

(up to six satellites since June 2002) allows for the creation of gridded wind speeds. The wind 

directions come from two sources depending on the products: for the research delayed mode 

product, the source is the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Reanalysis 2 

(NRA-2) and for the near-real-time products, the source is the numerical weather prediction of 

the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. The user-friendly web interfaces 

and data formats have continued to extend the product's’ benefit to society, such as applications 

in marine transportation safety and efficiency (e.g., near-real-time use in ship routing services), 

ecosystems (e.g. World Coral Reef Watch), offshore renewable research and industry, forecasts 

in climate, weather, ocean and waves, and education. 

The International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS). The ICOADS 

is the result of NOAA NCEI’s partnership with its international colleagues. ICOADS offers sur2-95
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face marine data spanning the past three centuries, and simple gridded monthly summary products for 2° latitude x 2° longitude boxes back to 1800 (and 1°x1° boxes since 1960)—these data 

and products are freely distributed worldwide. As it contains observations from many different 

observing systems encompassing the evolution of measurement technology over hundreds of 

years, ICOADS is probably the most complete and heterogeneous collection of surface marine 

data in existence, and is a foundational dataset for ocean, weather and climate research and 

forecasts. 

World Ocean Atlas. NCEI scientists have worked to construct the World Ocean Atlas, which 

contains objectively analyzed climatological fields of in situ temperature, salinity, oxygen, and 

other measured variables at standard depth levels for various compositing periods for the world 

ocean. CCOG scientists are working on the next release of the WOA, WOA17, incorporating 

many new data, extensively revising quality control and working on isobaric surfaces. Additions 

to the existing WOA (WOA13) over 2015 (forthcoming release) are climatological mean fields of 

conductivity (for use with SWARM satellite) and mean fields of density. Regional climatologies

(https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/regional_climate/) for the Greenland, Iceland, and Norwegian 

Seas, the Nordic Seas and Northern North Atlantic, the Arctic, the East Asian Seas, and the 

Gulf of Mexico, were created from the Atlas, providing a set of high resolution mean fields for 

temperature and salinity.

World Ocean Database. NCEI scientists have increased the number of ocean profile casts in 

the World Ocean Database (WOD) by more than one million for a total of 14.6 million profiles.

These data are the basis for the WOA (see above) but also used independently by researchers 

around the world and within NOAA for oceanographic, climate, and environmental studies.

Ocean Heat and Salt Content. NCEI scientists continue to update the time series of ocean 

heat content, salt content, and steric sea level change. Ocean heat content is the definitive 

measure of excess heat energy in the Earth’s system, as the ocean absorbs more than 90% of 

the excess heat trapped in the Earths system (atmosphere/oceans/land). All time series, figures, 

and data are available at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/3M_HEAT_CONTENT/.

Global Gas Flaring Estimates. NCEI scientists have developed a prototype measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system for global gas flaring based on nighttime data collected by 

the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor on the NOAA S-NPP. The system 

identifies gas flaring sites and estimates flared gas volumes and CO2 emissions on annual increments. This MRV system supports: 1) The UN and World Bank initiative to end routine gas 

flaring by 2030. 2) Calculation of oil and gas carbon intensities from specific production fields for 

compliance with Low Carbon Fuel Standards in California and parts of Europe. And 3) Tracking 

CO2 emission reductions for Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) under the 

recently signed UN climate change agreement.

Blended Analysis of the Sea Surface Salinity (BASS). CCOG scientists collaborate with National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) scientists on a sea surface salinity (SSS) 

gridded product which is used in NCEP monthly climate reports. CCOG contributes the in situ 

portion of the blended data as one-degree gridded means of SSS. CCOG scientists also work 

directly with the Aquarius and SMOS SSS satellite data, validating with in situ data and using for 

further research on salinity cycles.

Global Temperature and Salinity Profile Program (GTSPP). CCOG scientists lead an international effort to provide near-real time ocean profile temperature and salinity data to reanalysis 

products and other researchers. The data are quality controlled before being presented to users.

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NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

The mission of climate research activities within NOAA/OAR is to monitor and understand 

Earth's climate system in order to predict the potential long-term changes in global climate as 

well as shorter-term climate variations that are of societal and economic importance. More information on OAR’s climate research is available at: http://www.noaa.gov/climate.html

To achieve this mission, climate research across OAR is structured to support the long-term 

goal of Climate Adaptation and Mitigation described in NOAA’s Next-Generation Strategic Plan 

(NGSP). The NGSP identifies four Objectives under the Goal: (1) Improved scientific understanding of the changing climate system and its impacts; (2) Assessments of current and future 

states of the climate system that identify potential impacts and inform science, service, and 

stewardship decisions; (3) Mitigation and adaptation efforts supported by sustained, reliable, 

and timely climate services; and (4) A climate-literate public that understands its vulnerabilities 

to a changing climate and makes informed decisions.

To meet these Objectives, OAR’s research is executed and delivered through a network of NOAA line offices, laboratories and cooperative institutes, programs, and university-based partnership activities. Broadly, OAR’s laboratories and cooperative institutes contribute, both directly 

and indirectly, to all four Objectives. OAR’s Climate Program Office (CPO) manages NOAA’s 

largest climate competitive research program that funds high-priority science to advance understanding of the causes and effects of climate variability and change. CPO manages a balanced 

portfolio of climate research, observation, monitoring, modeling, and decision science across a 

weather-to-climate time continuum to help communities and businesses better manage risks, 

build resilience, and adapt to a changing environmental conditions. CPO brings together and 

maintains relationships across NOAA laboratories, cooperative institutes, and university-based 

partners. OAR’s laboratories and cooperative institutes work in tandem with CPO to ensure 

NOAA meets its aim of an informed society anticipating and responding to climate and its impacts.

• Specific aims of research conducted under NOAA’s Goal’s Objective of improved scientific 

understanding include:

• Describe and understand the state of the climate through sustained atmospheric and oceanic observations and research related to global distributions, trends, sources and sinks of atmospheric constituents that are capable of forcing change in the climate of the Earth

• Understand and predict climate variability and change from weeks to decades to centennial 

timescales

• Conduct advanced mathematical modeling of the climate and Earth systems, including natural climate variability, anthropogenic climate change, weather and hurricane forecasts, El 

Niño prediction, and stratospheric ozone depletion to improve the prediction of climate phenomena 

• Sustain the observing systems essential for climate, oceanographic monitoring, and data 

management

• Conduct physical process research to advance a seamless suite of information and forecast 

products

• Understand how decision makers use climate information to improve the ability of society to 

plan for and respond to climate variability and change.

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NOAA/OAR Laboratories and Programs

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)

AOML conducts mission oriented scientific research that seeks to understand the physical, 

chemical, and biological characteristics and processes of the ocean and atmosphere, both separately and as a coupled system. The Laboratory's research theme related to oceans and climate includes interdisciplinary scientific investigations of the physics of ocean currents and water properties, and on the role of the ocean in climate, extreme weather events, and ecosystems. The tools used to carry out these studies range from sensors on deep ocean moorings to 

satellite-based instruments to measurements made on research and commercial shipping vessels and autonomous vehicles, and include data analysis and numerical modeling as well as 

theoretical approaches. This includes stewardship of oceanic measurements relevant for climate, including custodianship of major data sets, development and deployment of new sampling 

methods, new analysis tools, and carrying out long-term consistent environmental measuring 

programs.

In an effort to better understand and forecast climate, the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) contributes to the maintenance of the global Argo program (a global 

array of 3,000 vertically profiling floats), the global drifter program (which maintains a global array of more than 1500 surface drifters), the expendable bathythermograph program (the deploys 

more than 8000 XBTs each year and processes more than 14,000 XBTs each year). AOML collaborates with the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) to monitor decadal-scale 

changes in a suite of physical, chemical, and biological parameters over the full water column, 

such as carbon dioxide uptake, ocean temperature, and circulation (e.g. Global Repeat Hydrographic/CO2/Tracer (GO-SHIP) surveys in Support of CLIVAR and Global Carbon Cycle objectives: Carbon Inventories and Fluxes program). In addition AOML maintains time series observations of the Florida Current and Deep Western Boundary Current (Western Boundary Time 

Series program) and the Deep Western Boundary Current in the South Atlantic (the Southwest 

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation Array); these programs contribute to the national and 

international programs designed to measure the meridional overturning circulation in the Atlantic 

Ocean which is the large scale ocean circulation that redistributes heat, fresh water and carbon

north and south in the ocean. AOML manages these observational programs and conducts 

ocean circulation research on data collected through them. All of these programs are major contributors to the World Climate Research Programme’s Climate Variability and Predictability 

(CLIVAR) Experiment and the Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment. Combined with satellites, these data provide a quantitative description of the changing state of the ocean and the 

patterns of ocean climate variability from months to decades, including heat, freshwater and 

carbon storage and transport.

In FY17 and beyond, AOML plans to increase understanding of the ocean's role in climate 

through the stewardship of long term ocean observations, analysis of observations and models 

and numerical simulation of ocean circulation induced changes to climate. For example, the 

Physical Oceanography Division (PHOD) of AOML will continue to show that the variation of 

surface and subsurface ocean temperature and salinity is important to and linked with the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), hurricane intensification and fisheries productivity 

on climate time scales.

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Air Resources Laboratory (ARL)

To provide a sound scientific basis for understanding climate variability and change, the Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) contributes to two land-based reference observing networks: the U.S. 

Climate Reference Network (measuring surface climate variables) and the Surface Energy 

Budget Network. 

In FY17, ARL will:

• Continue to provide maintenance and testing of existing technologies at the climate reference networks and evaluate new technologies;

• Examine the impact of extreme events, such as a late spring freeze and mid-summer 

droughts, on the seasonal energy budgets of carbon and water in eastern hardwood deciduous forests.

• Continue analysis of interactions between climate and air chemistry, and the performance of 

operational and research models. 

• Continue developing new small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) measurement platforms 

for measuring thermodynamic parameters and surface layer characteristics as it relates to 

climate.

• ARL plans to continue coordinating with the National Integrated Drought Information System 

and the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information concerning the National Soil 

Moisture and Temperature Network, and to develop support for the NWS Water Center using the USCRN data.

Climate Program Office (CPO)

CPO manages a climate observations program and NOAA’s largest climate competitive research program that funds high-priority science to achieve its mission to advance scientific understanding, monitoring, and prediction of climate and its impacts to enable effective decisions. 

CPO’s position at the intersection of the climate research, observation, monitoring, modeling, 

and decision science communities enables it to lead a balanced, mission-driven research agenda and forge partnerships that enhance society’s ability to manage risks, enhance resilience, 

and adapt to a changing climate. CPO provides strategic guidance and coordination of NOAA’s 

climate science and services programs, and integrates them with the efforts of NOAA laboratories and external communities.

CPO also supports multi-disciplinary research and assessments that help communities better 

plan and respond to climate change and variability. CPO-supported research is conducted in 

regions across the United States, at national and international scales, and globally.

One of CPO’s core missions is to develop and sustain a global in situ climate observing system 

with partners such as AOML, PMEL, and NESDIS NOAA’s instruments are a vital part of an international system to monitor Earth’s climate and provide data for NOAA research, modeling, 

predictions, and forecasts. CPO leverages climate science capacity and capabilities to provide 

Americans with critically needed early warning systems that are timely and relevant for stakeholders at a range of scales spatially (local to global) and over time (weeks to decades) and include the effects of changing climate conditions on extreme weather events.

CPO will continue to support modeling, research, analysis, and data collection aimed at gaining 

a better understanding of climate processes. These activities are essential steps toward delivering climate prediction and assessment products for risk management and decision-making. 

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CPO will also sustain grant programs that advance the knowledge and capacity of decision 

makers to assess risk, prepare for, and respond to the impacts of climate variability and change.

FY 2017 Plans:

• Execute the OAR-NWS MOU that established a strategy between NWS and OAR to ensure 

NOAA meets the growing societal demand for climate information through improved modeling and predictions as well as development of applications and tools for enhanced decision 

support services.

• Improve the understanding of predictability and the potential to advance the prediction of 

phenomena occurring on subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) time scales including focus on 

tropical cyclones, atmospheric rivers, and precipitation and temperature extremes. Continue 

development of subseasonal (e.g., Week 3-4) temperature and precipitation outlooks and 

products.

• Support scientific advancements in understanding of tropical convection, the coupled oceanatmosphere-land-ice system, and persistent model biases (e.g., DYNAMO, AMOC, and Pacific Ocean Biases).

• As an element of its suite of observation systems and partnerships, advance plans for the 

Tropical Pacific Observing System 2020 projects which will support improved ENSO predictions as well as weather forecasts.

• Increase engagement with public and private partners to understand their vulnerability to 

extremes of weather and climate to help develop information needs and options for adaptation and mitigation, especially in the areas of heat health, water resources, and coastal 

flooding.

• Expand the Climate Resilience Toolkit to improve data visualization and offer interactive 

map layers showing climate-related stressors, people and assets impacted, and climate projections and to facilitate knowledge sharing between climate experts and stakeholders in 

businesses and communities.

Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)

The Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) continues to make unparalleled contributions to 

the scientific understanding of climate change through its global atmospheric monitoring program, field missions to study atmospheric processes, laboratory studies, modeling work.

ESRL’s Chemical Sciences Division (CSD) climate research provides an improved predictive 

capability through a better understanding of the connections between emissions, atmospheric 

composition, and Earth’s climate system. Research is focused on addressing two of the greatest 

uncertainties in current climate models: water vapor and aerosols (airborne fine particles), in 

addition to ongoing work on non-CO2 greenhouse gases.

The ESRL Global Monitoring Division (GMD) conducts sustained observations and research 

related to global distributions, trends, sources and sinks of atmospheric constituents such as 

greenhouse and other trace gases, aerosols, ozone, a that are capable of forcing change in 

Earth’s climate. This research and long-term observations are used worldwide to advance climate projections and provide scientific, policy-relevant, decision-support information to enhance 

society's ability to plan and respond to change.

Physical Sciences Division (PSD) strives to interpret the causes of observed climate variation, 

and advance the understanding, parameterization, and measurement of climate-relevant physical processes. PSD research advances NOAA’s capacity to observe, understand, and predict 

the physical behavior of the climate system and related impacts on global-to-local scales over 

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timescales ranging from days to decades. Advances the predictive understanding of climate extremes and variability impacting on the U.S., such as changes in the risk for heavy rainfall and 

snow events during an El Niño, are used to improve climate models and forecasts and develop 

new climate products that better serve the needs of the public and decision-makers.

The ESRL Global Systems Division (GSD) leads an Atmospheric Science for Renewable Energy program with the objective to provide more accurate wind and cloud forecasts over a range 

of timescales to support the nation’s increase demands for better products and services. This 

includes the improvement of numerical weather prediction forecasts from the Rapid Refresh 

(RAP) and the High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) weather models for wind and solar applications. Specific accomplishments have focused on the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) 

scheme. Explicit mixing of cloud water and ice to the turbulent mixing scheme in the MYNN PBL 

scheme has been added, and the subgrid-scale clouds from shallow-cumulus scheme have 

been coupled to the radiation scheme. Separate cloud mixing ratios for the deep- and shallowcumulus schemes and their respective cloud fractions have been implemented in the RAP. Further, a blended turbulent kinetic energy (BTKE) scheme in the WRF model has been developed, 

for implementation in the RAP and HRRR.

GSD also leads the development of coupled modeling systems (in collaboration with CSD), 

combining weather/ocean/chemistry and aerosols to study processes relevant for global climate 

change, in particular the aerosol direct and indirect effects. Furthermore, these modeling tools 

are used to look at impacts of chemistry and air quality on medium range numerical weather 

prediction as well as seasonal and sub-seasonal forecasting.

All ESRL Divisions place a high priority on communicating the results of their research in decision-support information products to underpin national and international decision-making. Their 

contributions include leadership and extensive participation in state-of-understanding national 

and international assessments on climate.

FY 17 Plans:

• Carry out the Shale Oil and Natural Gas Nexus (SONGNEX) investigation using NOAA’s 

“flying chemical laboratory” aboard the NOAA P-3 aircraft

• Execute a complementary airborne study of Fugitive Emissions concentrating on methane 

and other GHGs aboard the NOAA DHC6 aircraft.

• Analyze data from the SENEX and SEAC4RS field missions to understand climate effects of 

emissions, atmospheric chemistry, and transport in the southeastern U.S.

• Develop new prototype systems for regional drought diagnosis and prediction.

• Develop large ensemble, multi-model, high resolution global modeling ability to resolve high 

impact extreme events: heat waves, droughts, heavy precipitation.

• Develop climate and weather guidance to reduce and manage drought and floods impacts 

on watershed restoration.

• Provide an integrated database for the International Arctic System for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA). IASOA is a consortium of 10 sentinel Arctic Observatories that collect a wide 

range of detailed measurements relevant to weather and climate. This activity will support 

the Polar Prediction Project.

• Lead development of International Arctic science focus groups integrating information on the 

environmental state of clouds, radiation, surface-atmosphere exchanges, trace gases, black 

carbon and regional predictions in the Arctic region.

• Continue development of Arctic atmospheric observatories to obtain high-latitude climate 

data.

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• Engage in diagnostic studies to enhance understanding of the two-way linkages between 

the Arctic region and the lower latitudes to improve prediction

• Continue long-term observations of atmospheric composition, providing annual updates of 

CarbonTracker, the NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (a national climate indicator), methane climatologies, CO2 trends (daily updates; a national climate indicator), the OzoneDepleting Gas Index, GlobalView, and other long-term atmospheric composition data sets 

and products. 

• Revise the mixing length in the MYNN planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme to improve 

the representation of the local mixing in the RAP/HRRR.

• Improve the representation of the subgrid-scale clouds as well as the coupling between the 

subgrid-scale clouds and the turbulent mixing in the RAP/HRRR. 

• Couple a mass-flux scheme to the MYNN PBL scheme to improve the representation of the 

non-local mixing in the RAP/HRRR. 

• Develop a 3D surface flux capability in the MYNN surface layer scheme in the RAP/HRRR. 

• Improve the initial conditions of non-precipitating and precipitating clouds in RAP/HRRR hydrometeor analysis.

• Continue aerosol studies as they related to global climate change.

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)

Over the last half century in general, and the last few years in particular, GFDL has demonstrated world leadership in pushing the boundaries of climate prediction and projections of climate 

change. Through direct participation in producing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

Change (IPCC) 2007 Assessment and the Administration’s Climate Change Science Program 

Synthesis and Assessment Reports, GFDL’s premier climate science capacity and recent investment in computer model infrastructure allow NOAA to deliver essential climate prediction 

information at the regional and local level and provide an invaluable and unique opportunity for 

the Nation to make critical progress in global change science. GFDL has delivered model output 

to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). Four model streams have been specifically designed for the climate integrations needed to address the major climate science challenges. All 

four streams are based on CM2.1, a GFDL coupled climate model with an atmospheric model 

resolution of 200km and an ocean model resolution of 100km. CM2.1 was considered among 

the highest quality models used in the previous IPCC Assessment Report, AR4, and was used 

again in AR5. Nearly 200 terabytes of model output was submitted to the 5th Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project (CMIP5) for use in AR5. The four modeling streams are:

1. Decadal prediction experiments to better understand physical processes.

2. Earth System Models (ESMs), emphasizing biogeochemical carbon-climate feedbacks 

through the use of a closed-carbon cycle. 

3. Coupled climate models (CM3) with more realistic, self-consistent but complex atmospheric 

physics and chemistry than in CM2.1. 

4. High-resolution atmospheric models at 50km and 25km resolution forced by future ocean 

states.

GFDL scientists continue to play an active role in AR5, and in some instances lead, in: model 

inter-comparison and model simulation analysis activities; submission of model data, quality 

control and archiving; analyses of the data outputs and inferences about the climate system.

These activities will lead to a number of peer-reviewed publications based on the CMIP5 database of model output. GFDL has also made significant contributions, through high-resolution 

model experiments, to the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program 

(NARCCAP), and GFDL model experiments and science results were also used in the recently 

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released USGCRP National Climate Assessment. Significant progress in model development is 

expected in FY15 as the four modeling streams outlined above are unified into a new coupled 

model called CM4. New very high-resolution climate and Earth System models are being developed and applied to address scientific questions regarding the impact of atmospheric composition and ocean eddies on the climate system as well as regional-to-local impacts of climate variability and change on marine ecosystems.

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) conducts climate research and 

modeling focused on the region of the Laurentian Great Lakes, which is shared by the USA and 

Canada. Investigation of impacts of climate change on hydrologic resources in the Great Lakes 

began during the late 1980s, and has been considerably overhauled in recent years. Hydrologic 

models with one-way driving of the surface by the atmosphere have been replaced by regional 

climate models with two-way coupling of the atmosphere to both land and water surfaces. The 

older generation of this type of model, the Coupled Hydrosphere-Atmosphere Research Model 

(CHARM) is being replaced by a newer version based on the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model.

Of particular interest is the influence of climate and climate change on water quantity in the 

Great Lakes basin, and atmospheric and climatic research at GLERL are coordinated with hydrologic study, as well as research on the dynamics of motion and thermodynamics of the lakes 

and their ice. In addition, GLERL has expertise in the dynamics of nutrient loading in rivers, and 

on the interaction among these nutrients, water temperature and dynamics, and the biota of the 

lower and upper food web, leading to end-to-end capability in the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of this regional Earth system.

National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

NSSL scientists have collaborated with the NOAA NWS Storm Prediction Center to determine 

the observed climatology of severe thunderstorms in the U.S. and to explore different strategies 

for producing reliable seasonal predictions of severe weather. They have also worked with the 

international community to develop climatologies for other parts of the globe. In addition, they 

have examined data from different climate-projection studies, together with known relationships 

between environmental parameters and severe-weather occurrence, to hypothesize how severe-weather occurrence and intensity might change in different climate scenarios.

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) contributes to the advancement our understanding of the impacts of climate variability and change through a long-term observations 

program that supports robust climate research. Key observational components include: 

The Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array (GTMBA) was developed by PMEL in partnership with 

NOAA’s Climate Program Office and multiple international partners. PMEL now maintains both 

the PIRATA and RAMA Arrays in the Tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans, respectively. The 

TAO/TRITON Array, the original component of the GTMBA, has been transitioned from PMEL to 

NWS/National Data Buoy Center. Moored buoys in the GTMBA report daily values of surface 

meteorological parameters and subsurface temperatures and salinity values via satellite for use 

by the NWS Climate Prediction Center and climate researchers world-wide. 

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PMEL contributes to the maintenance of the global Argo Float Array, through an international 

partnership under the direction of NOAA’s Climate Program Office and in conjunction with U.S. 

Argo partners Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the 

University of Washington, and AOML. PMEL scientists deploy floats, support the addition of new 

measurement and increased depth capabilities of Argo floats, conduct research on improving 

quality control of the Argo data. PMEL and CPO are co-managing the development of Deep Argo floats, extending the depth range of Argo floats from 2,000 meters to 6,000 meters.

PMEL scientists support the OceanSITES program of global moored ocean reference stations 

for climate, maintaining two moored platforms in the North Pacific, at the Kuroshio Extension 

Observatory (32.3o

N 144.5oE) in the NW Pacific Ocean and at Ocean Station Papa (50oN 

145o

W) in the NE Pacific Ocean.

In conjunction with the International CLIVAR program, PMEL conducts ocean research on a 

global scale to monitor decadal-scale changes in a suite of physical, chemical, and biological 

parameters over the full water column, such as carbon dioxide uptake, ocean temperature, and 

circulation.

PMEL climate researchers are active in the Arctic region, using atmospheric models to predict 

long-term sea-ice extent and providing information on potential impacts to ecosystem managers 

and local communities on Arctic change. PMEL scientists, working with the National Marine 

Fisheries Service, also conduct research on the impacts of ocean climate change on marine 

resources, conducting research on ocean acidification and on the impact of ocean and climate 

change on North Pacific fishery and marine mammal populations.

U.S Department of Agriculture

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) funding supports research projects that collect, 

analyze and utilize short and long-term weather and climate data as a base of information for 

the projection and prediction of climatic trends related to environmental impacts on agroecosystems, forests and rangelands for the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies 

for natural resources and agriculture production management. Through the Agriculture and 

Food Research Initiative (AFRI), NIFA has funded a set of projects on weather and climate related research in collaboration with other U.S. federal agencies. These projects are focused on 

regional climate studies in agriculture lands and forests, and other areas of research related to 

carbon cycling, agro-ecosystem modeling, water sustainability, and economic consequences of 

adaptation and mitigation strategies. Emerging areas of research include the impact of climate 

on biofuel production and non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas production.

Historical climate changes are derived from data gathering and modeling studies, enabling prediction of future crop production and irrigation needs. NIFA funding also supports studies on the 

predicted impact of climate and weather on food, feed, and fiber production and on natural resource protection and utilization. These studies relate to forest and agricultural plant growth, 

rangeland productivity, cropping system selection, livestock production practices and natural 

resource management.

Man’s impact on climate systems is also well represented in NIFA funded studies of both microand macro-climatic change. These involve studies dealing with the climatic impact on air quality, 

water quality and quantity and agriculture waste management related to agricultural practices 

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and forest and urban development. Studies on climatic impact on nutrient cycling and carbon 

sequestration and emission are supported with NIFA funds.

United States Geological Survey

Water Resources Monitoring. The effects of warming temperatures on water resources are 

among the most certain and costly consequences of climate change in some regions of the 

United States, and water resources information should be an important component of (or closely 

linked with) a new national climate services program. The USGS is the nation’s water resource 

monitoring agency, with one or more offices in every State and a National stream and groundwater monitoring network that supports water management efforts at State and local levels, as 

well as vast western water resources managed by two other Department of the Interior bureaus: 

the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The USGS has a longestablished hydroclimatology research program and is the primary Federal science agency for 

water resource information. The USGS monitors the quantity and quality of water in the Nation's 

rivers and aquifers and develops tools to improve the application of hydrologic information, including the effects of a changing climate. This broad, diverse mission cannot be accomplished 

effectively without the contributions of the Cooperative Water Program with the 50 states. For 

more than 100 years, the Cooperative Program has been a highly successful cost-sharing partnership between the USGS and water-resource agencies at the State, local, and Tribal Nation 

levels. 

The USGS carries out research in climate change, regional hydrology, the carbon cycle, coastal 

erosion, and glaciology. The Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program is 

studying processes controlling water, energy, and biogeochemical fluxes at five small research 

watersheds in the United States. This program includes research on the effects of atmospheric 

and climatic variables on watershed processes. There are also a number of ongoing studies to 

characterize trends in hydrologic data and to relate these trends to climatic variables. Researchers are also using global and regional climate models to enhance understanding of the 

potential effects of climate change and climate variability on U.S. land and water resources.

Glacier Monitoring. As part of its glaciology program, the USGS maintains an observation 

program on three benchmark glaciers representative of different climatic zones of the western 

United States, one in Washington, one on the south coast of Alaska, and one in the interior of 

Alaska. At each glacier, the program measures the winter snow accumulation, summer snow 

and ice ablation, air temperature, and runoff in the glacier basin. Beginning in 1959, this is the 

longest such record in North America. Analysis of this record is providing a greater understanding of climate variability and its effects on water resources of the western United States. The 

record clearly shows the effects of changing winter precipitation patterns associated with atmospheric conditions in the northeast Pacific Ocean, including El Niño-La Niña events and the 

Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

To augment its glacier monitoring efforts, the USGS is using National Systems data to measure 

fluctuations of glaciers in Alaska, Washington, and Montana. Mountain glaciers are ideal subjects for these systems because they are remote, have an appropriate space scale, and require 

infrequent but repetitive observations. The observations have established a baseline of regional 

glacial conditions. The resulting archive of ongoing observations is being used to determine recent trends in glacier size and terminus location. In addition, techniques have been developed 

to generate derived products that provide critical glacial parameters, including DEMs, equilibrium line altitudes, and ablation rates. These products are being incorporated into a glacial runoff 

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model of the South Cascade Glacier, Washington, where they are proving to be a valuable 

source of otherwise unavailable data.

Snow and Ice Studies. The USGS, in cooperation with BLM, is using a variety of remote 

sensing data to monitor the rapid wastage of the piedmont lobe of Bering Glacier, Alaska. Landsat, Radarsat, ICESat, and Ikonos observations show that Bering Glacier is retreating rapidly 

and thinning in an accelerating retreat from an advanced position that resulted from a major glacial surge in 1993-95. The satellite data and ground-based observations have been combined to 

determine the surface flow velocities and calving rates of the glacier and to monitor the expansion of Vitus Lake and Berg Lake—two large lakes whose boundaries include the glacier terminus. The rapid change in glaciation is having a large impact on nearby terrestrial and aquatic 

ecosystems.

Geological Investigations. The USGS has traditionally led the USGCRP projects devoted to 

understanding cycles in the Earth’s climate, abrupt climate change, ecological thresholds, and 

climate change in polar regions. These cycles are generally underrepresented in the available 

data from meteorological records. By combining paleoclimatic and instrumental data, USGS 

scientists have contributed substantially to understanding how past and current changes in the 

Earth’s climate affect water, land, and biological resources.

Biological Indicators of Climatic Trends. The National Phenology Network, Breeding Bird 

Surveys, and Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative are examples of USGS biological 

science programs that provide national coverage and uniform protocols for reporting the occurrence of biological events that can augment analyses of changes in the physical climate system.

USGS Role in National Climate Services. The USGS has several additional programs and 

projects that would directly support and complement an interagency national climate services 

program. The USGS develops global and regional climate models and contributes to international programs of model development (e.g., the WCRP and phase 3 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project [CMIP3]). It targets model applications to investigate past, present, and 

future climate change (mean and variability) and how those changes influence and are influenced by surface systems. Applications include surface and 

subsurface hydrology, terrestrial and marine ecosystems, 

glaciology, and wildland fire 

research. USGS model simulations are often targeted to specific natural resource response 

and management questions 

rather than production runs for 

activities such as the IPCC assessments. Its modeling activities are flexible, with quickly 

implemented experimental designs that are often modified 

through an iterative process 

involving cross-disciplinary researchers.

The figure right depicts some Figure 6: Examples of USGS Potential Areas of Contribution

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of the potential areas of USGS collaboration and support toward a coordinated interagency national climate services program.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Science Mission Directorate, Earth Science Division

Predicting the consequences of global change—whether natural or human induced—and developing useful science-based applications of climate, weather, and hydrologic prediction systems 

are paramount challenges NASA’s weather research program. The program is primarily designed to apply NASA scientific remote sensing expertise to the problem of obtaining accurate 

and globally distributed measurements of the atmosphere and the assimilation of these measurements into research and operational weather forecast models in order to improve and extend 

U.S. and global weather prediction. Weather research at NASA is accomplished in collaboration 

across four focus areas (Atmospheric Composition, Climate Change & Variability, Water & Energy Cycle, and Weather). Some of the relevant key questions the focus areas address include 

the role of clouds in the climate system, atmosphere/ocean/ice/land interactions, extreme 

events (e.g., droughts, hurricanes), climate oscillations (ENSO, MJO, etc.), weather forecasting, 

and sub-seasonal to inter-annual climate diagnosis and prediction.

NASA has been a strong contributor to the national weather forecasting goals in the past, and 

will continue to be in the future, primarily through the development and use of data from spacebased sensors. Satellite-based profiles of temperature and moisture have been routinely used in 

operational forecasting for more than 20 years, and NASA sensors hold promise for more accuracy and spatial resolution (TRMM, GPM, Aqua, Terra, Suomi NPP, CloudSat, RapidSCAT,

SMAP, CALIPSO, CYGNSS, RapidSCAT, and SMAP). Recent developments in assimilating 

radar and passive microwave data from TRMM and the Advanced Infrared Sounder (AIRS) data 

from Aqua are improving weather forecasts and contributing to developing long time series in 

support of climate studies. Further advances in predictive capabilities will come with data from 

the GPM constellation satellites, which can measure falling rain, snow, and ice in light to heavy 

quantities and cover the entire globe every three hours. NASA continues to work on the assimilation of cloudy radiance with the JCSDA partners.

Satellite Missions. Satellites provide critical climate change measurements via global coverage, frequent sampling in both space and time, and near-uniform accuracy and stability. NASA 

initiated, and in selected cases has sustained for more than a decade, many global, high accuracy, well-calibrated data records, such as total solar irradiance at the top of the atmosphere; 

Arctic Ocean sea ice extent and thickness; Antarctic and Greenland mass change and other 

characteristics; global sea level and global ocean surface vector wind; global ocean nearsurface chlorophyll-a concentration; global land use and land cover; ozone in the stratosphere; 

and, global precipitation, including water vapor, rainfall and snow. These critical climate data 

records are a foundation for national and international studies of global and regional climate 

change, sea level rise, and study of the earth as a system. 

NASA has 8 on-orbit satellite missions specifically related to climate services as defined by this 

Federal Plan: Aqua, CloudSat, Earth Polychromatic Camera (EPIC) onboard NOAA’s Deep 

Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM), Suomi 

National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), the 

International Space Station (ISS)-RapidScat payload, and Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) 

mission. The Aquarius mission, formerly on the list, ended June 7, 2015 when its host platform, 

the Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas (SAC)-D suffered a mission-ending failure. SMAP, the 

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first of the Tier 1 missions of the Decadal Survey, lost its active sensor July 7, 2015 shortly after 

transitioning to nominal mission operations, but continues to operate successfully as a radiometer-only mission. ISS-RapidScat, although it continues to operate well, has experienced multiple 

transitions in its receiver power, requiring ongoing calibration from the QuikSCAT scatterometer 

to maintain consistency as a climate data record. As such, the decommissioning of QuickSCAT 

has been deferred. Table 1 lists the climate services themes supported by these missions. 

NASA also operates several other satellite missions that collect data necessary for climate research (e.g. Aura, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite 

(CALIPSO), Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), and Terra).

Table 1. Correlation of NASA Earth Science Division operating satellite missions with OFCM themes of climate services.

Satellite Launch Date Climate Services Theme

Aqua May 2002 Atmospheric Composition; Carbon Cycle; Climate 

Variability and Change; Water Cycle

CloudSat Apr 2006 Climate Variability and Change; Water Cycle

DSCOVR/EPIC Feb 2015 Atmospheric Composition

OSTM Jun 2008 Climate Variability and Change; Water Cycle

Suomi NPP Oct 2011 Atmospheric Composition; Carbon Cycle; Climate 

Variability and Change; Water Cycle

GPM Feb 2014 Climate Variability and Change; Water Cycle

ISS RapidScat Sept 2014 Climate Variability and Change

SMAP Jan 2015 Climate Variability and Change; Water Cycle

A daunting challenge in supporting the complexity of global and regional climate change science 

is the huge number of biological, chemical, and physical variables that must be measured nearly 

simultaneously globally. To address this challenge, NASA has engineered constellations of satellites flying in close formation. For example, NASA’s Aura, CALIPSO, CloudSat, Aqua, and 

OCO-2 satellites, together with the Japanese Global Change Observation Mission 1–Water 

“Shizuku” (GCOM-W1), are called the “A-Train” constellation and produce an unprecedented 

quantity of data for atmospheric composition, dynamics, and the water cycle. The time separation between the front and rear of the A-Train is 11 minutes, less than the lifetime of most 

clouds; this important feature allows researchers to utilize multi-satellite observations to examine processes related to cirrus cloud formation in large-scale models.

NASA has 3 satellite missions in development (Table 2) related to climate services, as defined 

by this Federal Plan, for launch from 2016 to 2023. Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 

(CYGNSS) is the first in the Earth Venture-class series of rapidly developed, cost-constrained 

small space missions, and is referred to as EVM-1 (Earth Venture Mission-1). Radiation Budget 

Instrument (RBI) is a scanning radiometer capable of measuring Earth’s reflected sunlight and 

emitted thermal radiation, extending the unique global climate measurements provided by the 

Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System instrument since 1998. Surface Water and 

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Ocean Topography (SWOT) is a Tier 2 Decadal Survey mission to provide insight into the 

movement and distribution of Earth surface waters including both freshwater and oceans.

Table 2: Correlation of NASA Earth Science Division missions in development with OFCM themes of climate 

services.

Satellite Planned Launch Climate Services Theme

CYGNSS 2016 Water Cycle

RBI 2021 Climate Variability and Change

SWOT 2020 Climate Variability and Change; Water Cycle

NASA continues with the pre-formulation studies of Decadal Survey and other mission concepts 

such as Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO), Active Sensing 

of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons (ASCENDS), Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem 

(ACE), GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE), Hyperspectral Infrared 

Imager (HyspIRI). Additionally, the Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) makes significant 

investments in technology development activities directly addressing the priorities outlined in the 

Decadal Survey including the tiered missions as wells as Earth Venture through development of 

observation systems and information systems technologies.

The following activities will be undertaken or accomplished in FY 2017.

• CLARREO Pathfinder will enter the formulation phase in fall 2016. The CLARREO mission 

received funding to demonstrate essential measurement technologies required for the full 

mission. The allocated funds support the flight of a Reflected Solar (RS) spectrometer, hosted on the International Space Station (ISS) in the 2020 time frame.

• CYGNSS will complete environmental test and prepare for launch in early FY17.

• TEMPO will continue its development, including instrument level integration and test.

• SWOT will complete its Key Decisions Point – C (KDP-C) review and enter development.

• PACE will complete its System Requirements Review (SRR) and Key Decision Point – B 

(KDP-B) review.

• RapidScat will be removed from the ISS in late 2017, when its assigned slot will transition to 

a new ISS payload. QuikSCAT decommissioning has been deferred.

• The 2017 Senior Review will determine further mission extension of all operating missions 

including those listed in Table 1.

NASA Science Research

As stated previously in this document, NASA’s Earth Science Research Program addresses 

complex, interdisciplinary Earth science problems in pursuit of a comprehensive understanding 

of the Earth system. The Research Program pioneers the use of both space-borne and aircraft 

measurements through its implementation of several elements: multi-disciplinary research and 

analysis, interdisciplinary research, data product generation, calibration and validation, airborne 

science, modeling and data assimilation, and enabling capabilities. Research and analysis 

(R&A) emphasizes the development of new scientific knowledge, including the analysis of data 

from NASA satellite missions and the development and application of complex models that assimilate these science data products and/or use them for improving predictive capabilities.

The following research activities will be undertaken or accomplished in FY 2017:

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• Continue expanding the supercomputing capacity at the NASA Center for Climate Simulations (NCCS) to more than 4 quadrillion floating point operations per second (petaflops) for 

weather and climate modeling using the combination of CPUs and multi-core accelerator 

technologies such as Intel Phi or NVIDIA GPU processors. The storage system capacity will 

continue to grow to more than 40 petabytes to accommodate the data generated by highresolution climate and weather model simulations including the nature run for Observation 

System Simulation Experiment (OSSE), reanalysis for climate data record (MERRA-2), and 

high-resolution climate projection downscalings.

• Continue operation of ground networks such as Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network 

(TOLNet), AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET), and Micro-Pulse Lidar Network 

(MPLNET) for measuring time evolution of atmospheric trace constituents, including gases 

and aerosols. An international cooperative air quality field study with South Korea, KORUSAQ or Korea U.S.-Air Quality, was conducted in April-June 2016, which integrated observations from aircraft, ground sites, and satellites with air quality models to understand the factors controlling air quality across urban, rural, and coastal interfaces.

• Through the Earth Venture Suborbital-2 (EVS-2) solicitation, a total of six investigations 

were selected in November 2014, three of which are of particular relevance because of their 

emphasis on atmospheric composition and its effect on meteorology: ObseRvations of Aerosols Above Clouds and Their IntEractionS (ORACLES); Atmospheric Tomography Mission 

(Atom); and Atmospheric Carbon and Transport – America (ACT-America). Three ORACLES deployments are planned out of Namibia to probe how smoke particles from massive 

biomass burning in Africa influences cloud cover over the Atlantic. The first deployment was 

in August/September 2016. ATom will measure atmospheric composition constituent profiles 

from pole-to-pole in the Atlantic and Pacific over the period of FY 2016-FY 2018 to study the 

impact of human-produced air pollution on greenhouse gases and on chemically reactive 

gases in the atmosphere. ACT-America will measure atmospheric CO2 and CH4 over the 

central and eastern U.S. during all four seasons; a summer campaign was conducted in FY 

2016 and two campaigns are planned for FY 2017. Of the five EVS-1 missions, three missions have already concluded: Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment 

(CARVE), Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from COlumn and VERtically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER-AQ), and Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment (ATTREX). The two remaining missions are wrapping up and include 

the following activities:

 The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) EVS-1 investigation used two Global 

Hawk unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) (2012-2014) and the NASA WB-57 manned aircraft (2014 only) to obtain measurements necessary for improved understanding of the 

factors that impact hurricane intensity. HS3 has completed its KDP-F and will complete 

close-out during FY 2016. While the primary campaign has ended, data analysis will 

continue.

 The Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface (AirMOSS) EVS-1 

investigation has finished its airborne flights using an ultra-high frequency synthetic aperture radar to measure high spatial resolution soil moisture to provide insight into the 

vegetation activity and the uptake of carbon dioxide. In FY 2016, the project finished its 

work by analyzing collected data and model simulations to achieve its goal of reducing 

the uncertainty of global NEE (Net Ecosystem Exchange) estimates. There are no 

planned activities beyond FY 2016.

• The third Earth Venture Instrument (EVI-3) selections made in FY 2016 included a low-Earth

orbit investigation, Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS). TROPICS investigation will initiate design in 

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FY 2017 and once launched consist of a constellation of CubeSats to study the development of tropical cyclones through rapid-revisit sampling.

• The Earth Venture Mission-2 (EVM-2) CYGNSS project completed assembly, integration, 

and test of the 8 observatories at the Southwest Research Institute in FY 2016. In parallel 

with the hardware development, the mission’s science algorithm team worked with the Science Operations Center at the University of Michigan to prepare an initial algorithm for production of its Level 1, 2, and 3 science data products: (1) ocean surface scattering cross 

section, (2) instantaneous ocean surface wind speed, (3) and gridded ocean surface wind 

speeds. The mission’s science applications team is developing and testing data assimilation 

schemes for introducing CYGNSS data into modified versions of the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model. Preliminary simulations indicate that there will be a 

significant positive impact on HWRF track and intensity forecast skill. CYGNSS is scheduled 

for launch in early FY 2017.

• NASA provides significant funding related to the use of the technique of GPS Radio Occultation (GPSRO) for the study of atmospheric and related phenomena. In particular, NASA 

provides significant funding to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) 

for its processing of data and the improvement of retrievals from the joint US/Taiwan Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC1)/Formosa Satellite Mission-3 (FORMOSAT-3) satellite constellation, emphasizing applications to weather. UCAR processes and makes available data from COSMIC-1/FORMOSAT3, as well as related GPSRO sensors on satellites of our international partners. NASA also 

funds scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to advance GPSRO retrievals, especially 

as they are important for climate research. Additionally, NASA supports a competed science 

team for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The most recent team, selected in July 2015, includes ten investigators who will be funded for a total of four years. Among the 

scientific areas supported through this team are studies of the planetary boundary layer, assimilation of GNSS-reflection data into hurricane models, study of precipitation effects on 

GNSS occultation signals, and diagnosing fine-scale atmospheric variability using GPSRO 

data.

Department of Energy

Office of Science/ Biological and Environmental Research (BER) / Climate and 

Environmental Sciences Division (CESD)

CESD supports an integrated portfolio of basic research ranging from molecular to field scale

studies with emphasis on the use of advanced computer models and multidisciplinary experimentation. As discussed, in http://science.energy.gov/ber/research/cesd/, CESD supports three 

groups of research activities, i.e., atmospheric sciences, environmental biogeochemistry, and 

earth system modeling. These three groups exploit two DOE scientific user facilities that focus 

on atmospheric and environmental observations to advance predictive understanding.

The atmospheric research activities are comprised of the Atmospheric System Research (ASR) 

Program and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility. Together, the ASR Program and ARM facility strive to understand the physics and dynamics governing cloud, aerosol, and precipitation interactions as well as to advance an understanding of 

cloud evolution and radiative energy balance. As a world class observing capability, the ARM 

facility is comprised of a suite of research radars, lidars, in-situ observations of clouds, aerosols, 

and radiative transfer, supplemented by manned and unmanned aircraft. Permanent sites are 

located in the Southern Great Plains (Oklahoma), Arctic (Barrow), and eastern Atlantic (Azore 

Islands); there are three mobile facilities deployed for durations of 6 months to several years to 

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conduct targeted research. In FY 2016, the ARM facility began to incorporate Large Eddy Simulations as a research component of the SGP site.

The environmental investments within CESD are composed of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Program, Subsurface Biogeochemistry Program, and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) User Facility. These activities are designed to advance the ecological and hydrological sciences, in order to improve a predictive understand of the process interactions appropriate for land and climate and earth system modeling. Major field activities include decadal 

scale experiments associated with studies of Arctic permafrost, boreal systems, tropical ecology, and river basins, each with a modeling component that links to earth system predictability 

research.

CESD modeling investments include a major emphasis on Earth System Model development, 

model analysis, and integrated assessment. Driven in large part by DOE’s goal to advance 

computational hardware and software capabilities to support increasingly complex scientific 

challenges, DOE has emphasized the prediction of extreme events, scale aware physics, nonhydrostatic-hydrostatic dynamics, and impact assessments. The Advanced Climate Model for 

Energy (ACME) is a new modeling platform, initiated in FY 2014, with links to the Community 

Earth System Model (CESM). A human component was added to the ACME framework that incorporates the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM).

National Science Foundation (NSF)

The National Science Foundation funds basic climate 

research, modeling, and process studies. This research 

portfolio includes support to individual investigators and 

collaborative groups, as well as funding for the National 

Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). NSF invests 

in the Community Earth System Model (CESM), a fullycoupled global climate model that provides state-of-theart simulations of the Earth’s past, present, and future 

climate states. NSF also funds the supporting infrastructure for climate studies by making computing resources 

required to perform data-intensive simulations available 

for community use.

As a basic science funding agency, NSF does not directly provide climate services to federal, state, and local 

agencies. But through its funding of basic science research, NSF contributes to the fundamental understanding of the climate system which is required for the provision of climate services.

Figure 7: The NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing 

Center provides advanced computing services 

to scientists studying a broad range of disciplines, including weather, climate, oceanography, air pollution, space weather, computational 

science, energy production, and carbon sequestration. It also houses a landmark data storage 

and archival facility that will hold, among other 

scientific data, unique historical climate records. 

Courtesy: University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

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EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND 

HOMELAND SECURITY SERVICES

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services 

are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local agencies responding to natural disasters and security incidents. This category includes the use of atmospheric transport and dispersion (ATD) models 

for predicting the dispersion of airborne toxic substances; it also includes natural disaster 

monitoring and prediction services and the transport of water-borne toxic substances not included in basic services. For example, numerical weather prediction models used to forecast 

the path, intensity, and storm surge of landfalling tropical cyclones are part of basic services. 

Downstream models of the effects of a landfalling tropical cyclone on the infrastructure and 

population of a particular populated area could be included in this service category.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) authorizes 

the President to provide financial and other support to state, local, tribal, territorial, and insular 

area governments to support response, recovery, and mitigation efforts following a major emergency or disaster. Under the Stafford Act, when an incident occurs that overwhelms the resources of a state or tribe, and the governor or tribal leader requests federal disaster assistance, the President may issue a Stafford Act declaration of either an “emergency” or “major 

disaster”. This declaration triggers the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) authorities to provide and coordinate response and recovery assistance. The Federal government 

may also mobilize and deploy assets in anticipation of a formal request from the state for Federal support.

Per the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA), FEMA leads and supports the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation. PKEMRA also requires that each federal 

agency with responsibilities under the National Response Framework (NRF) develop operational plans to ensure a coordinated federal response. The NRF established 14 Emergency Support 

Functions (ESFs) that are comprised of departments and agencies with particular authorities, 

resources, capabilities, and expertise to coordinate sector-specific disaster response actions.

In 2011, the President directed the development of a new National Preparedness System (NPS) 

that includes a National Planning Framework for each of five mission areas - prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. These frameworks identify how the whole community 

will build and deliver the core capabilities required to address the threats that pose the greatest 

risks to our Nation. The President also directed the development of a Federal Interagency Operational Plan (FIOP) to support each of these frameworks and to describe how the Federal 

government will execute its responsibilities in support of state, local, tribal, and territorial efforts.
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

The FIOP for Response, for example, is an all-hazards plan based on a “maximum of maximum” scenario that includes multiple catastrophic incidents and cascading impacts, including a 

major earthquake, a major land-falling hurricane, and a nuclear incident. Such a scenario would 

occur over a large geographic area, affect millions of people, and require response and recovery capabilities from across the whole community to include government at all levels, public and 

private sector resources, non-governmental organizations, and individual citizens. The concepts 

and tasks outlined in the FIOP for Response are scalable, flexible, and adaptable and can be 

used regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity of incidents.

The mission of the FEMA is to support U.S. citizens and first responders to ensure that as a Nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect 

against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. In carrying out its role, FEMA works 

with the Federal scientific community and meteorological agencies to ensure that appropriate 

risk information for hazards, vulnerabilities, and consequences is used to execute this mission.

The Response Directorate within FEMA administers the National Hurricane Program (NHP), 

which provides technical assistance to support both deliberate hurricane response/evacuation 

planning as well as operational decision making during hurricane approach. This technical assistance is primarily focused on supporting State/Local governments, as required by the authorizing language in Section 632 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act. Technical assistance is delivered through the conduct of storm surge risk modeling and development 

of planning and operational storm surge risk products; conduct of hurricane evacuation studies 

for hurricane prone states and territories; delivery of emergency manager hurricane planning 

and decision-making training; providing a hurricane decision support technology tool; and 

providing real time technical assistance to support operational decision making through the Hurricane Liaison Team.

Under an Interagency Agreement between FEMA and the National Weather Service’s National 

Hurricane Center (NWS/NHC), the NHC develops and applies its SLOSH (Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes) storm surge model to provide planning and operational products 

to support storm surge risk analysis. Development of these products includes model runs and 

simulations, as well as inundation mapping. The operational products are used to support state 

and local evacuation decisions and are used at all levels of government to prepare for the potential impacts and required response. The planning products are used as the basis for the hazard analysis and evacuation zone development work done as part of the Hurricane Evacuation 

Studies (HESs) process. Planning products are also used to assess the potential storm surge 

risk for an approaching hurricane prior to the availability of the operational products.

As part of the NHP, FEMA also develops, operates, maintains and distributes the HURREVAC 

decision-support software tool to approximately 20,000 government emergency managers annually. HURREVAC combines real-time NHC forecast data with evacuation clearance times 

from the HESs to guide emergency managers as to when decisions on hurricane evacuations 

would need to be made to ensure evacuation is completed before the arrival of hazardous conditions. The software is also widely used as a situational awareness and briefing tool and as a 

common operating platform to view official NHC hurricane forecast and risk information. Currently the NHP is working with NHC and other program partners on the development of the next 

generation platform for emergency manager hurricane decision support, which will aim to increase accessibility and capability.

The NHP delivers training for emergency managers through coordination between FEMA, the 

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tors for NHP hurricane preparedness for decision makers courses taught at the NHC, at conferences and at State Emergency Operations Centers.

The NHC also directly supports the FEMA Hurricane Liaison Team (HLT), which ensures the 

rapid exchange of forecast and risk information between the NHC and the emergency management community. FEMA has two full time liaisons located in an office at the NHC. The liaisons 

interact with NHC forecasters and leadership and are able to provide tailored risk, impact, and 

timing technical assistance to emergency mangers and facilitate critical NHC to emergency 

manager communications. FEMA has a similar arrangement with the Central Pacific Hurricane 

Center to provide emergency management technical assistance for threats to Hawaii.

FEMA has also deployed a permanent liaison to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center (NWS/SPC) to ensure similar information flow between SPC and the emergency 

management community regarding severe thunderstorm risks, primarily with respect to tornadoes and damaging winds.

FEMA is a partner of IWRSS (Integrated Water Resources Science and Services). Within FEMA, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

FEMA actively supports the OFCM-sponsored Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments 

and Plans: Weather and Water Data (WG/DIAP) and the WG/DIAP’s efforts to develop and implement the National Plan for Disaster Impact Assessments which outlines the interagency procedures to coordinate and support the collection of perishable data after major storms (see related COASTAL Act narrative on page 2-6). These data have applications in post-disaster mitigation activities, the NFIP flood hazard analysis, the FEMA National Hurricane Program, and 

other FEMA risk analysis activities, such as the Multi-Hazard Loss Estimation Methodology 

(HAZUS).

Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center

The IMAAC provides a single point for the coordination and dissemination of Federal dispersion 

modeling and hazard prediction products that represent the Federal position during actual or 

potential incidents involving hazardous atmospheric releases. Through plume modeling analysis, the IMAAC provides emergency responders, as well as public health and emergency managers and planners with predictions of hazards associated with atmospheric releases to aid in 

the decision making process to protect the public and the environment.

The IMAAC is managed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) and supported by other federal departments and agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The IMAAC Technical Operations Hub is operated by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

Decision makers and first responders need timely and accurate plume predictions to help guide 

emergency response decisions. The IMAAC provides a suite of plume modeling tools that incorporate meteorological, geographic and demographic data, as well as hazardous material information, to predict the transport and potential downwind consequences of biological, chemical, 

radiological/nuclear, and natural releases. The IMAAC experts are available 24/7 to produce 

detailed quality-assured model predictions, utilize observations and field measurement data to 

refine analyses, and assist decision makers in product interpretation.

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

The IMAAC produces both technical analyses and briefing products tailored for communications 

to non-technical decision makers. The IMAAC plots show hazard areas, affected populations, 

potential casualties and/or fatalities, damage estimates, and health effect, public protective action and worker protection levels. The IMAAC utilizes NOAA National Weather Service’s meteorological observations as well as variety of other available numerical weather prediction models (NWP) for the plume products. During IMAAC activations, the IMAAC Technical Operations 

Hub will consult with NOAA to determine the preferred higher-resolution forecast model for the 

event and will utilize that model if possible.

The IMAAC has been used in response numerous real-world events, including chemical fires 

and train derailments, in-situ burns from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and sulfur dioxide volcanic emissions in Hawaii.

IMAAC in coordination with its Federal interagency representatives are developing collaborative 

approaches to water modeling for CBRN events, to include oil and chemical spills. Over the next 

few months, IMAAC will actively engage with the FEMA Emergency Support Functions Leadership Group in seeking their input on this new capability in coordination with FEMA senior leadership and our IMAAC interagency members.

U.S. Coast Guard

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) directly supports all Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

missions. It provides DHS the broad authorities, capabilities, and partnerships necessary to accomplish its tasks in the maritime domain.

Coast Guard has three broad roles: Maritime Safety, Maritime Security, and Maritime Stewardship. Each USCG role is composed of several statutory missions. Each of the eleven statutory 

missions is listed below under the appropriate role.

• Maritime Safety Missions

 Marine Safety

 Search and Rescue

• Maritime Security Missions

 Drug Interdiction

 Migrant Interdiction

 Defense Readiness

 Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security

• Maritime Stewardship Missions

 Living Marine Resources

 Marine Environmental Protection

 Other Law Enforcement (Fisheries)

 Aids to Navigation

 Ice Operations

Most USCG missions support more than one role. For example, the Aids to Navigation mission 

primarily supports the Maritime Stewardship role by preventing pollution from vessel groundings 

and collisions, while facilitating the movement of people and goods. But this mission also supports our Maritime Safety Role by preventing accidents, injuries, and deaths. These interwoven 

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roles and complementary missions call for Coast Guard personnel and resources that are similarly multi-mission capable. This characteristic of USCG people and platforms—their ability to 

perform multiple missions—brings greater effectiveness, insight, and agility to bear in any situation. It is a fundamental source of the Coast Guard’s strength. Support for meteorological operations and supporting research is detailed in other sections of this plan.

NOAA/National Weather Service

National Incident Management System and Emergency Support Functions

NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) has derived responsibility to support the emergency 

operations of local, state, tribal, territorial, and insular area governments through the Robert T. 

Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988. Further the Department of 

Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Response Framework (NRF) mandated by Presidential 

Policy Direction 8 provides the context for how the Nation responds to disasters and emergencies through the establishment of a National Incident Management System and Emergency 

Support Functions to align key roles and responsibilities. This Framework describes specific authorities and best practices for managing incidents that range from the serious local to largescale terrorist attacks or catastrophic natural disasters.

NWS Impact-based Decision Support Services (IDSS) are provided for National Special Security Events as designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security, to Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) coordinated Special Event Assessment Rating events, and in response to Incidents of National Significance (e.g., Hurricane Sandy). NWS can deploy Incident Meteorologists 

(IMETs) and Emergency Response Specialists to provide onsite support for large wildfires and 

other homeland security concerns, as well as for accidental releases/spills of hazardous 

chemical, biological, or radioactive materials.

NOAA has a permanently embedded meteorologist at FEMA Headquarters to provide real-time 

decision support to FEMA senior leadership and other national-level government decisionmakers. In addition, the liaison (along with additional trained NWS meteorologists and/or 

hydrologists when necessary) will support activations at the National Response Coordination

Center as a result of any expected or ongoing major disaster or emergency. NWS Regions have 

close partnerships with their respective FEMA Regions and regional interagency partners, and 

will deploy to the Regional Response Coordination Center(s) during activations, typically under 

a FEMA Mission Assignment. In addition, the NWS is in the process of hiring personnel to be 

permanently assigned to FEMA’s National-Incident Management Assistance Teams (N-IMATs).

N-IMATs support the initial establishment of a unified command and provides situational 

awareness across the whole cummunity of federal, state, territortial, tribal, local and private 

sector decision-makers crucial to determining the level and type of immediate federal support 

that may be required. NOAA also has a liaison deployed to the DHS National Operations 

Center.

Post Storm Data Acquisition

NOAA NWS supports the OFCM-sponsored Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments 

and Plans: Weather and Water Data (WG/DIAP) and its efforts to develop and implement the 

National Plan for Disaster Impact Assessments, which outlines the interagency procedures to 

coordinate and support the collection of perishable data after major storms. NWS trains 

volunteer SKYWARN® weather spotters to help assess weather and flood incidents. NWS 

conducts field surveys of damage utilizing the Damage Assessment Toolkit and leverages 

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NOAA aircraft and the USAF Auxiliary’s Civil Air Patrol for overflight reconnaissance. Highresolution satellite imagery can also be acquired for major incidents.

Data collected by the NWS contributes to Governors’ Disaster Declaration Requests, 

Preliminary Damage Assessment Reports and to FEMA’s evaluations. Data acquired by NOAA 

NWS is shared through the WG/DIAP and officially published in NOAA's National Centers for 

Environmental Information’s (NCEI) Storm Data. 

FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and Wireless 

Emergency Alerts.

The NWS pushes watches, warnings, advisories, and special statements in Common Alerting 

Protocol (CAP) format to the FEMA IPAWS Alert Aggregator. Warnings which pose an 

“imminent threat” to the general public pass through IPAWS to commercial wireless carriers and 

are broadcast as a 90 character WEA message on WEA-capable devices. The message notifies 

the recipient of the alert type, expiration time, a brief description of the action to be taken, and 

name of the alert originator (i.e., NWS). Almost all wireless carriers provide the WEA service 

and the majority of devices on the market are now WEA- capable.

From 2013 through 2015, the NWS actively collaborated with commercial wireless industry as 

well as Federal, emergency management, and academic partners in multiple working groups 

which were tasked by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to recommend 

improvements to WEA. In late 2015, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

(NPRM) based on many of the recommendations. The NPRM includes recommendations which 

would improve geographical targeting of WEA, increase the maximum allowable WEA message 

length, and allow for state and local testing of WEA.

The NWS and FEMA have made NWS CAP messages available over FEMA IPAWS and 

multiple NWS dissemination systems for repackaging and redistribution by alert distribution 

partners. The NWS also continues working with FEMA, the FCC, broadcast industry, and 

related partners on solutions which would provide compatibility between NWS-produced CAP 

and Emergency Alert System (EAS) signals broadcast by NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), so that 

NWS-CAP could be used to activate EAS.

NOAA Weather Radio (NWR).

NWR is used as a reliable and redundant means of communicating weather-related warnings 

directly to the public. NWR is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous 

weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. The broad NWR 

network reaches areas comprising 95 percent of the American public. NWR broadcasts official 

NWS warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a 

week. Working with the FCC and FEMA, NWR is an "All Hazards" radio network, making it a 

single source for comprehensive weather and emergency information. As a key component of 

the EAS, NWR serves as a primary EAS input to media (radio, television, cable). In conjunction 

with Federal, State, and Local Emergency Managers and other public officials, NWR also 

broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards – including natural (such 

as earthquakes or avalanches), environmental (such as chemical releases or oil spills), and 

public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 Telephone outages).

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National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP).

The National Weather Service (NWS) has oversight responsibility for the NTHMP. The mission 

of the NTHMP is to work with communities in vulnerable U.S. coastal areas on preparedness 

activities to respond to tsunami events. In response to the destructive Indian Ocean Tsunami 

(December 2004), the U.S. Tsunami Warning Program, including the NTHMP, was upgraded 

and expanded to enhance the monitoring, detection, warning, and communications capabilities 

designed to protect lives and property for all U.S. communities at risk.

NOAA/National Ocean Service

Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) 

Resilience Program

In 2014, NOAA CO-OPS rebranded the CO-OPS COASTAL Program to the CO-OPS Resilience Program. This Program continues to focus on non-navigational applications of CO-OPS 

observing systems, data, and products for ecosystem restoration and management. The Resilience Program also provides decision-support tools to aid managers and restoration practitioners to plan for both current and future coastal conditions, and to anticipate and mitigate natural 

hazards. Real-time water level and meteorological information is critical for emergency managers to make decisions related to evacuation and warnings for coastal communities, as well as to 

produce storm surge predictions.

The Storm QuickLook product, in particular, incorporates water level and meteorological information measured at National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON) and Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) stations. Storm QuickLook bulletins are posted for tropical cyclones that affect the United States coastline, but have also been created for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and for elevated water levels in the Mississippi River that occurred in 

2011. These bulletins provide near real-time, continuously updating oceanographic and meteorological data measured at affected water level stations. Also, 6-minute interval GOES transmission capability supports the NWS storm surge warning program when expected water level elevations are predicted or observed during coastal storms and hurricanes.

The CO-OPS Resilience Program also provides aid to Tsunami Warning Centers, by supplying 

one-minute water level observations at coastal NWLON stations, as well as 15-second data as 

requested after a tsunami event. These data are used to assess the impact and damage of a 

tsunami. For more information see http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/coastal.html. 

In 2016, CO-OPS has developed a prototype Coastal Inundation Dashboard in three regions - 

Hampton Roads, New York City and North Carolina. This product provides Inundation alerts 

based on observed water level or model forecasted water levels exceeding NWS flood thresholds, rather than traditional high water advisory (Figure 1). The product also provides historical 

inundation information including yearly inundation events, top ten flood events, sea level trends, 

and exceedance probabilities (Figure 2). This historical information begins to bridge the gap between event driven flooding and how the number of flood days have increased at many locations due to sea level rise. Over the next year CO-OPS is working with NOAA partners to refine 

the product and to engage stakeholder before making the product operations in 2017.

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Figure 2: Prototype Coastal Inundation Dashboard demonstrating a water level alert during Hurricane Sandy and the Inundation Landmark demonstrating the flooding impact at 

Immigrants Statue near the Battery.

Figure 1: Prototype Coastal Inundation Dashboard demonstrating historical inundation 

information at the NOAA Sewells Point Station: a) Yearly Inundation Events and b) Top Ten 

Storms.

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NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations

Among the NOAA/OMAO airborne observing systems fleet, the King Air (N68RF) and the Twin 

Otters (4 aircraft) can perform damage assessment flights following natural disasters. They provide georeferenced, high-resolution photographs to the public via the Internet. These photographs are extremely useful to local, county, and state government personnel, as well as to 

emergency managers and to the public at large, as they go about the business of assessing the 

damage and the nature and magnitude of the relief effort that will be required in the region as 

part of the FEMA National Response Framework.

United States Air Force

Air Force weather personnel characterize the weather-related portions of the operating environment to enable DoD decision-makers to anticipate and exploit the weather for air, ground, 

space, cyberspace, and intelligence operations. As this applies to ‘Emergency Response and 

Homeland Security Services,’ the Air Force provides meteorological information, products, and 

services required to support Air Force, Army, and other military operations in order to support 

the Nation’s emergency response and homeland security efforts including Defense Support to 

Civil Authorities such as Hurricane Reconnaissance missions in support of Department of 

Commerce. Different Air Force organizations support various aspects of the Nation’s homeland 

security efforts:

• The Air Force produces environmental products used to support both the daily and emergency response and homeland security operations of the U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The Air 

Force produces fine-resolution model and forecast products that can be leveraged by the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in its hazard 

dispersion modeling and related emergency planning and response efforts. The Air Force 

also produces space weather products used to support both the daily and emergency response and homeland security operation of USNORTHCOM and NORAD, the Intelligence 

Community and other classified support.

• The Air Force produces both CONUS and worldwide geospatial representations of current 

and forecast weather used to support the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) in 

their homeland security mission.

• The Air Force is able to provide weather support to the Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA) during a national emergency in cases when the FAA would fall under jurisdiction of 

DoD as prescribed under Executive Order 11161. This includes severe weather, aviation 

hazards, volcanic ash dispersion, and space weather.

• The Air Force Operational Weather Squadrons, who provide regional reach-back services, 

may support emergency planning and response operations for US interests at home or 

abroad.

• The Air Force, bilaterally with the U.S. Navy in Hawaii, routinely works with its civil U.S. and 

international tropical cyclone forecast centers to tailor forecasts and issue warnings to protect DoD assets across the Pacific and Indian Ocean basins.

• The Air Force Reserve Command's "Hurricane Hunters" collect meteorological data in and 

around tropical cyclones, providing timely and accurate data to the National Hurricane Center to aid in their analysis, prediction and warning products to help mitigate and protect lives 

and property impacted by these tropical systems.

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• At the local levels, Air Force weather personnel assigned to Air Force and Army installations 

participate in emergency management response in coordination with local, county, state, 

federal and non-government organizations.

United States Navy

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response

Figure 3: Launching an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle an

part of a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response 

(HA/DR) operation

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Navy METOC personnel support 

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HA/DR) operations aboard U.S. Navy and Coast 

Guard vessels. Military oceanographic survey vessels designated 

as T-AGS are continuously forward deployed and conduct hydrographic, oceanographic and 

acoustic surveys in all the oceans 

of the world. These ships have 

modern full ocean depth multibeam and single-beam sonar systems for accurately measuring bottom depths and features, towed 

side-scan sonar systems for 

acoustic imaging of bottom features and navigation hazards, 

ocean current profilers, sub-bottom profilers for measuring stratification of seabed sediments, 

and over-the-side devices that collect physical ocean parameters such as temperature and salinity with depth. These ships are capable of hosting a number of roll-on/roll-off systems, including systems for collection of seismic data and unmanned underwater vehicles. The ships are 

also equipped with C-band communications to send data directly back to the Naval Oceanographic Office for immediate processing. Three of the ships are complemented with hydrographic survey vessels — smaller craft for shallow water hydrographic collection. We have been operating unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) for well over a decade. Their inventory consists 

of propelled vehicles, such as various models of the Remote Environmental Monitoring Units 

(REMUS) UUVs for collection of sonar, sub-bottom and optical data in addition to buoyancy 

controlled, high endurance UUVs, such as the Slocum glider and wave-powered Sensor Hosting 

Autonomous Remote Craft (SHARC) vehicles, which collect and transmit ocean and atmospheric data in real time for satellite transfer back to our operational production centers. Navy uses 

UUVs for direct support to operation missions. As part of our hydrographic capability, they also 

employ unique jet-ski variants called Expeditionary Survey Vehicles or ESVs. Outfitted with single-beam and side-scan sonar, in addition to accurate Global Positioning System navigation, 

ESVs can be rapidly deployed and conduct hydrographic survey into the surf zone, to places 

where traditional systems can’t go. This data is extremely useful for supporting expeditionary 

warfare and enabling missions like humanitarian assistance and disaster response. Weather 

forecasts and surveys of anchorages and piers provided commanders with the status of port 

accessibility, ensuring accessibility to the port critical to allowing food, water, medical supplies, 

materials, and other support to arrive by sea.
Emergency Response and Homeland Security Services

Partnerships and Stability Operations

Partnerships provide access to data sources, insight into emerging science and technology, and 

help all parties leverage limited budgets by reducing redundancy and pooling capabilities. Naval 

operational oceanography has a long history of executing cooperative military hydrographic and 

oceanographic surveys, as well as data, product and subject matter exchanges with international partners. Their ability to provide emerging partners with improved capabilities in the areas of 

meteorology, oceanography and hydrography is unique and is highly regarded by combatant 

commanders and naval component commanders as an outstanding tool for strategic engagement. In turn, their partners provide access to information vital to forward-deployed naval operations.

Navy METOC also maintains strong interagency partnerships. The integration of modeling efforts among the Navy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and U.S. Air 

Force, NUOPC provides an unparalleled global modeling capability that can be adapted by individual agencies for specific applications. Another strong example is their partnership with NOAA 

and the U.S. Coast Guard in operating the U.S. National/Naval Ice Center, providing ice analysis and forecasts to support safety of navigation for public, commercial and DoD use in the Arctic, Antarctic, Great Lakes, and all other large bodies of water affected by ice.

Figure 4: Launching a SLOCUM GLIDER from an Auxiliary General Survey (T-AGS) ship

U.S. Marine Corps

Chemical Biological Incident Response Force

The CBIRF METOC Analyst serves to provide essential meteorological and hazardous prediction information in support of CBIRF`s real world and training operations coupled with providing 

daily and weekly weather forecasts and climatological briefs to the corresponding staff to support planning operations and typical battalion operations. Other duties include: research and 

implement new weather forecasting techniques or tools as well as new plume modeling software or tools; responsible for coordinating and maintaining liaison with local, state, and federal 

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agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, Defense Threat Reduction Agency 

(DTRA), or Joint Task Force Civil Support (JTF-CS) in order to enable appropriate sharing of 

information and a combined arms response to Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Explosive (CBRNE) incidents that may occur within CBIRF`s purview; and work with the Battalion 

Chemist to develop plume modeling products that are disseminated in response to training or 

real world CBRNE events.

U.S. Geological Survey

The USGS mission provides for "the classification of the public lands and the examination of the 

geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the National Domain.” The USGS 

serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the 

Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. Among its broad responsibilities and efforts are identification, assessment, and monitoring of potentially hazardous areas; development of capabilities to predict the time, place, and the severity of hazardous geologic, hydrometeorologic, biologic, and chemical conditions or events; and dissemination of the 

findings and their implications, including the provision of technical and scientific advice to public 

officials. The USGS also maintains Bureau-wide efforts intended to educate the public about 

natural hazards.

The USGS has been delegated the Federal responsibility to provide notification and warnings 

for earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides. In addition, USGS data-collection networks provide 

real-time information needed by other agencies to issue forecasts and warnings related to a variety of hazards. For example, the USGS seismic network supports NOAA tsunami warnings; 

the USGS streamgage network supports NOAA flood forecasts (see Hydrometeorological and 

Water Resources Services); the USGS geomagnetic observations support solar storm forecasts 

(see Space Weather Services); USGS biologic monitoring of wildlife diseases enhances assessments of potential human pathogens such as the H1NI influenza virus; and USGS geospatial and remotely sensed information supports a broad spectrum of disaster-response activities 

and operations from an “all-hazards” perspective.

The USGS established a secondary reception station for NOAA GOES at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center in Sioux Falls, SD. Three new satellite antennas and an existing antenna at EROS are used in support of this effort. Three of these antennas 

support communications with the GOES East and GOES West satellites, along with a hot spare. 

The remaining antenna is designated for a DOMSAT link, which is used for data dissemination. 

EROS also receives streamgage data in real time from the GOES satellites and is making these 

data available to USGS and other stakeholders. The receive station at EROS serves as a backup to the primary site [station] at Wallops Island, Virginia, which otherwise would represent a 

single point of failure in this vital data collection and dissemination system.

Beyond network operations, the USGS has the expertise and infrastructure to acquire, assess, 

disseminate, or preserve information that can be derived from the study of geological, hydrological, meteorological, chemical, or biological conditions before, during, or after an imminent or 

declared disaster or emergency. These capabilities can be tapped through mission assignments, interagency agreements, or third-party contracts, as provided by law and regulation.

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Department of Energy

Field Site and National Laboratory Meteorological Services

In support of its national security, scientific research, and environmental stewardship missions, 

DOE has established and maintained operational meteorology programs at its field sites, national laboratories and offices. It has also managed various atmospheric research projects in 

support of emergency response and homeland security services among other activities. With 

respect to these programs, field sites and national laboratories collect quality-assured meteorological data, develop site-specific climatology from these measurements, use these data for various applications, and provide local site weather forecasting.

Emergency response and homeland security services require characterization of atmospheric 

processes that determine fate and transport of hazardous material releases. Meteorology programs directly contribute to the protection of public health and safety, and the environment, by 

accurately measuring and characterizing relevant local atmospheric processes to establish realtime and forecasted consequences.

DOE sites benefit from well-managed meteorological program support to 24/7 operations (e.g., 

work-force safety under severe weather and emergencies) and national defense programs.

Field Site and National Laboratory Operationao Meteorological Support

Operational meteorology programs provide customized meteorological monitoring services and 

local site weather forecasts for national defense projects, and for nuclear safety and emergency 

response programs. Each operational program is primarily focused on supporting emergency 

response, and protecting the safety of workers, public and the environment.

Operational meteorology programs are established at eight national laboratories, Hanford Site, 

Savannah River Site, Nevada National Security Site, Pantex Plant, Y-12 NSC and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Some of these programs incorporate 24/7 severe weather watches to reduce 

risk of potential adverse impacts on facilities, construction projects, property, and workers.

The DOE Meteorological Coordinating Council (DMCC) provides a forum for continuity of meteorological activities at DOE sites. The DMCC overarching mission is to effectively coordinate 

meteorological programs at all DOE/NNSA sites to avoid duplication of effort and maximize procurement and operational frugality. The participants are engaged in many activities to improve 

the meteorological programs in DOE/NNSA, as well as improve the DOE interface with atmospheric sciences as a whole. Information on this council can be located at 

https://sp.eota.energy.gov/EM/SitePages/DMCC-Home.aspx. 

DMCC FY 2016 Accomplishments:

• Reviewed operational meteorological programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12, 

and Los Alamos National Laboratory. An Assist Visit is planned for the Savannah River Site 

in FY 2017;

• Key contributor in revising ANSI/ANS-3.11, “Determining Meteorological Information at Nuclear Facilities”;

• Published a Technical Report for Calculations of Atmospheric Dispersion at Onsite Locations for DOE Nuclear Facilities;

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• Key contributor in revising DOE-HDBK-1216-2015, “Environmental Radiological Effluent 

Monitoring and Environmental Surveillance”:

• Published a White Paper, “Wind Speed Data Resolution: Observed Effects on MACCS2 Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling Results.”

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response 

coordinates NRC responses to nuclear facility emergencies through the activation of the NRC 

Operations Center. The Protective Measures Team has a meteorologist on staff to provide, and 

quality control, meteorology data for dose analysts in the NRC Operations Center. The dose 

analysts then rely on the Radiological Assessment System for Consequence Analysis (RASCAL) model to assess offsite consequences in the event of a radiological accident at an NRClicensed facility. This model can incorporate real-time meteorological data from a site’s measurement station, in addition to real-time data provided through NWS ASOS stations, and can 

also incorporate forecast data from applicable stations.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)

AOML conducts mission oriented scientific research that seeks to understand the physical, 

chemical, and biological characteristics and processes of the ocean and atmosphere, both separately and as a coupled system. While the focus of the laboratory is on improving understanding through research, AOML houses a large component of the global ocean observing system, 

including Argo profiling floats and surface drifters. AOML also has maintained the long-standing 

expendable bathythermograph (XBT) program, which has a long-standing collaboration with the 

National Weather Service and the United States Coast Guard to develop and support the 

AMVER program. The AMVER program (Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue AMVER 

reports allow the U. S. Coast Guard to track a vessel's position. The AMVER program relies on 

ships to submit four types of reports: (1) Sail Plans; (2) Position Reports; (3) Arrival Reports and 

(4) Deviation Reports, when necessary. The U. S. Coast Guard updates their database with the 

position information from these reports, which allows them to identify vessels in the vicinity of a 

ship in distress. AOML mains the software and processes all reports. 

Air Resources Laboratory (ARL)

NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) develops and improves dispersion and air quality 

models and collects research-grade atmospheric measurements. Our programs support NOAA, 

broader US, and some international emergency response programs with an emphasis on chemical, nuclear, smoke, dust, and volcanic ash events. Our key NOAA customer is the National 

Weather Service, and we interact extensively with the National Ocean Service Office of Response and Restoration. ARL also provides a broad selection of web based assessment tools. 

ARL’s primary emergency response model platform is the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model and has been made operational at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). HYSPLIT also serves as the national dispersion forecasting capability in several other countries. HYSPLIT is the major product employed in the operations of the Regional Specialized Meteorology Center (RSMC) set up as a joint undertaking 

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of ARL and NCEP under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The 

WMO/RSMC is the source of dispersion products in the event that a radioactive plume crosses 

international boundaries.

ARL provides meteorological support for the Department of Energy at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls and at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) north of Las Vegas. 

ARL meteorologists staff the DOE Emergency Operations Center during drills and emergencies, 

such as accidental toxic chemical releases and wildfires. ARL operates an additional mesonet in 

East Tennessee that collects ozone and basic meteorological information.

In FY17, ARL will:

• Continue to improve and adapt the HYSPLIT model to address threats imposed from radioactive material, volcanic ash, dust, and wildfire smoke, and other hazardous materials.

• Provide reach-back support to NWS and other organizations that use our models.

• Continue to maintain mesonets in Nevada, Idaho, and eastern Tennessee.

• Continue to support the Department of Energy at the INL and NNSS.

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) has developed and continues to 

upgrade the Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System (GLCFS). This system produces forecasts of waves, currents, temperature, ice, and other properties of the five Great Lakes and their 

connecting channels that are used by commercial ship captains, recreational boaters, fishermen, beach managers, oil spill responders, and search and rescue personnel. The GLCFS is 

currently being upgraded from a system based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM), to a system based on the Finite Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM), which allows the model to be 

executed with variable spatial resolution, among other capabilities..

The NOAA Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team has also recently completed a technical 

memorandum that describes the particular roles and responsibilities for different NOAA offices 

and personnel in the Great Lakes in the event of a natural or human-caused emergency such as 

a severe winter storm, large wildfire, or oil spill. The team will be assisting other NOAA regions

to adapt this approach for use in their areas, with consideration of the particular emergencies 

that might be anticipated in other regions such as hurricanes or earthquakes.

National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

In FY17, NSSL will continue collaboration with the NWS on research and development activities 

to advance our knowledge and understanding of severe convective storms and to provide new 

and improved tools and techniques for observation, prediction, and analysis of these storms and 

their associated hazards (tornadoes, damaging wind, flash flooding, etc.). As part of its FACETs 

paradigm research, NSSL will work with social scientists and emergency responders to bring 

about a Weather-Ready Nation resilient in the face of increasing vulnerability to severe weather. 

In FY15 and FY16, FACETs concepts were tested in collaboration with NWS forecasters and 

emergency managers in the Hazardous Weather Testbed. The work will be further refined and

tested in the HWT with NWS forecasters, emergency managers and broadcast meteorologists 

in FY17 and FY18. This effort is also closely linked to the NWS Hazard Simplification project, 

with NSSL and NWS collaborating on the development and testing of new emergency messaging for hazards such as tornadoes.

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Earth System Research Laboratory/ (ESRL)

The Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) partners with NWS on research and development that provide early warning forecasts and information to support emergency responses.

The ESRL Global Systems Division (GSD) has collaborated with NWS in the development of 

fire weather prediction tools such as the FX-Net workstation, which provides weather data to 

Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) during wildfires. The FX-net is used to brief fire behavior analysts and fire Incident Commanders onsite. GSD has also been running an experimental, Western US weather model, the High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR)/Chem/ Smoke at 3-km resolution during wildfire season, which supports of smoke and fire management operations and 

provides critical situational awareness for the movement of fire fighters and emergency evacuation planning and execution.

The ESRL Physical Sciences Division (PSD) has been working with NWS local forecast offices 

and river forecast office on improved monitoring, nowcasting and forecasting of west coast winter time extreme precipitation events resulting from Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) - relatively narrow 

regions of enhanced atmosphere water-vapor transport that result in heavy precipitation and 

flooding. PSD has developed in situ and satellite monitoring and analysis tools to provide for the 

early detection of ARs and capabilities to better predict AR behavior that can stall over watersheds resulting in flooding that can disrupt travel, induce mud slides, and cause catastrophic 

damage to life and property. In partnership with state and federal agencies, PSD has deployed 

a “picket fence of atmospheric river observatories (AROs) along the west coast of the US that 

provide critical information on the transport of moisture from the Pacific Ocean as nowcasts to 

anticipate flood risk and to assess the skill of weather model forecast in realtime. Complementing the ARO, snow-level radars have been installed in select mountainous basins along the 

West Coast that can be used to determine the surface area throughout the watershed that precipitation is falling as snow versus rain and the risk for rain on snow events or flooding. Decision 

support tools continue to be developed to integrate the new information provided by the observations and weather models into flood forecasts for risk management.

For the first time, Global Systems Division (GSD) researchers provided a new experimental 

Hazard Services platform in the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) during May, 2016 

as part of the Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats (FACETs) effort. Forecasters 

worked with information about how ongoing threats will evolve over time and the probabilities 

that the threat will happen. This work will continue through FY17 and FY18. The software is targeted to transition to operations in FY18.

GSD is also demonstrating an early prototype of a high-impact weather forecast system in the 

NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed. This “Warn-On-Forecast” using a new High-Resolution 

Rapid Refresh-Ensemble system that will ultimately produce forecasts that define the probability 

of a weather hazard occurring, quantify the confidence in its path, and adjust to trends in that 

threat level based on new observations. This work combines the best technologies from GSD 

and NSSL.

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy (DOE) Meteorological Coordinating Council (DMCC) was established in 1994 to coordinate meteorological activities among the field offices to enhance cost 

effectiveness and productivity and to leverage synergistic opportunities. DOE has delegated the 

operation of its site/facility meteorological programs to NOAA and to non-Federal for-profit management and operating contractors. The DMCC membership is therefore composed of subject2-128
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matter experts from within the DOE complex, representing the three components with operational responsibilities for the following programs:

• Department of Commerce (DOC/NOAA) under interagency agreements

• Management and operating (M&O) contractors

• Private contractors

The DMCC operates as a subcommittee of the DOE Emergency Management Issues Special 

Interest Group (EMI SIG) and has a web page that can be accessed directly or through the 

Subcommittees and Working Groups tab of the EMI-SIG website. DMCC also issues an annual 

report as part of its presentation to the EMI SIG Steering Committee.

A current DMCC project is to improve the provision of quality-assured meteorological information and execution of transport and dispersion models that meet software quality assurance 

requirements. Products of the DMCC include evaluations of meteorological requirements contained in DOE orders and guidance documents, site meteorological program peer reviews (i.e., 

meteorological program assist visits), and, as needed, customized technical assistance. The 

DMCC has developed tools to enable DOE/NNSA sites to perform self-assessments of their individual meteorological monitoring programs and the meteorological aspects of consequence 

assessment. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) plans, recommends, and implements a program of nuclear regulatory research for nuclear power plants and other facilities regulated by 

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). RES provides technical support, tools, and information to identify and resolve safety issues for current and new designs and technologies 

through testing, data development, analysis, and national and international collaboration. RES 

also develops regulatory guidance and participates in the development of criteria and consensus standards related to the protection of the public health and safety and the environment.

For FY17, staff in the RES is planning to improve the RASCAL computer code to include up-todate models and provide technical support for the dispersion, deposition, and dose calculation 

models; for the meteorological data processor; and for the automatic meteorological download 

program. These updates will help to improve the decision-making process regarding off-site 

emergency actions.

In addition, the NRC staff in RES is planning to begin a project in the coming fiscal year that involves the integration of NOAA’s HYSPLIT model into the MACCS (MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System) consequence analysis code, one of NRC’s codes for predicting off-site 

consequences in probabilistic risk analyses. The HYSPLIT model was selected for integration 

with MACCS because it offers both puff and particle dispersion models, accepts a variety of 

publically available meteorological data, and offers updated graphical capabilities. These models would also be able to assist with the more complex simulation situations that include complex terrain or long-distance transport.

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HYDROMETEOROLOGY AND WATER 

RESOURCES SERVICES 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Hydrometeorology and Water Resources Services are 

those specialized meteorological services and facilities that combine atmospheric science, 

hydrology, and water resources in order to meet the requirements of Federal, state, and local 

agencies for information on the effects of precipitation events on infrastructure, water supplies, and waterways. These products and services also meet the needs of the general public in the conduct of everyday activities and for the protection of lives and property.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

Interagency Collaborative Programs and Products 

Integrated Water Resources Science and Services (IWRSS)

IWRSS is a business model for interagency collaboration. IWRSS brings a consortium of United 

States federal agencies with complementary water resources missions together to share resources to help address the Nation's water resources issues. These water resources challenges 

include: a) population growth and economic development are stressing water supplies and increasing vulnerability; b) a changing climate is impacting water availability and quality and increasing uncertainty; and, c) an aging water infrastructure is forcing critical, expensive decisions. The collective capabilities of Federal water agencies need to be leveraged to inform and 

guide increasingly important water decisions. 

Initiated through an Interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), IWRSS's overarching 

objective is to enable and demonstrate a broad, interactive national water resources information 

system to serve as a reliable and authoritative means for adaptive water related planning, preparedness and response activities. The goals are to:

• integrate information delivery and simplify access to this data,

• increase accuracy and timeliness of water information, and

• provide summit-to-the-sea, treetop-to-bedrock, high resolution water resources information 

and forecasts for droughts to floods.

Currently the collaboration is with four United States federal agencies: USGS, NOAA, USACE, 

and FEMA. Other federal agencies are expected to join the consortium in the near future. 

NOAA/National Weather Service

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service 

(NWS)has the primary responsibility among Federal agencies to provide advanced alerts of hydrologic conditions via flood warnings and river forecasts in the United States. The provision of 

these water prediction and warning services are significantly influenced by anthropogenic activi-
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

ties associated with water management and water use (e.g., reservoir regulation, diversions, 

and withdrawals). In order to provide these important services, collaboration with other federal 

agencies is crucial as 24 Federal agencies have a role in water. The end-to-end forecast process employed by the NWS to provide hydrologic and water resources forecast and warning 

services leverages data and information from Federal partners and involves the following:

• Meteorological and hydrological observations and anthropogenic data;

• Data collection, management and processing;

• Science and technology infusion;

• River and water quantity forecasting;

• Inundation mapping;

• Dissemination systems;

• Performance measurement; and

• Outreach and education. 

NWS relies on routine access to water data and observations from other Federal agencies to 

produce and provide water forecasts and warnings. These Federal agencies and their respective roles include the:

• Department of Interior (DOI)

 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - real-time and historical streamflow observations, 

stream/river cross-sections, rating curves (relating streamflow to river stage), topographic data (for inundation mapping)

 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBOR) – water use/regulation data

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) – water use/regulation data, real-time streamflow 

observations, and hydraulic models

• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) – snow observations

• Department of Energy (DOE) – water use/regulation data

The NWS hydrology and water resources program also leverages and expands NOAA science 

and service partnerships for the atmosphere, watersheds, estuaries, and oceans. Partnerships 

with the National Science Foundation, the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of 

Hydrologic Science Inc. (CUAHSI), other universities, the private sector, and the international 

community are leveraged to improve and integrate modeling capabilities.

An NWS field infrastructure which includes 122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFO), 13 River 

Forecast Centers (RFC), the National Water Center (NWC), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s (NCEP) Weather Prediction Center (WPC) and Climate Prediction Center (CPC) work as a team to provide hydrologic forecast and warning services from floods to 

droughts to minimize the loss of life and property and to meet the growing water resources service needs of our Nation. NWS hydrologic products and services support decision makers 

across a wide range of service sectors including emergency management, agriculture, hydropower, reservoir management, watershed management, river commerce, municipal and industrial water supply, and recreation.

NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) assess and monitor the threat of flash and river flooding 24 hours a day 7 days a week to provide timely and accurate life-saving flood watches and 

warnings. Toward this end, WFOs integrate a spectrum of RFC, NCEP and NWC guidance, 

Doppler weather radar (NEXRAD)-based precipitation estimates, and real-time telemetered precipitation and stream gauge observations, to provide routine river forecast services and critical, 

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event-based decision support services. In addition, WFOs work with dam operators and the 

emergency management community to provide timely warnings for floods that result from infrastructure failure such as dam break and levee breaches. Moreover, WFOs routinely conduct local outreach and education to heighten public and partner awareness of flood risks and NWS 

hydrologic services. 

NWS River Forecast Centers (RFCs) routinely generate short range (deterministic) through extended range (probabilistic) river forecasts and (deterministic) flash flood guidance. Information 

from the RFCs serves as the basis for local flood and flash flood warnings, watches, and advisories issued by the WFOs. These RFC products typically incorporate guidance from WPC, 

CPC, NWC and the WFOs, and emphasize flooding impacts from meteorological events based 

on geographic area, land use, time of the year, and other factors. In order to provide objective 

simulations of future river flows, RFCs calibrate, operate, and verify sophisticated hydrologic 

models based on rainfall, soil characteristics, quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs), reservoir regulations, and several other variables. Some RFCs, especially those in mountainous regions, also provide water-supply volume and peak-flow forecasts based on snow pack in high 

elevations. These water supply forecasts are used by a wide range of decision makers, including those in agriculture, hydroelectric dam operation and electricity generation, and water resources management. RFCs routinely coordinate with their associated WFOs, Federal water 

partners, stakeholders, NWC and the WPC.

A new element of the NWS water resources program infrastructure, the National Water Center 

(NWC) was completed in early 2014 on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, 

AL. The NWC will enable NOAA, in partnership with other federal agencies, to deliver a new 

generation of water information and services to the Nation. NWC currently provides comprehensive snow observations, analyses, data sets and map products. NWC products and services are 

used by RFCs and WFOs to develop a variety of water resources products such as spring flood 

outlooks, water supply outlooks, river and flood forecasts, and reservoir inflow forecasts. Additionally, the NWC provides and supports geographic information system (GIS) data sets and 

applications used by the RFCs in generating automated hydrologic forecast basin boundaries. 

NWC products and services also support a wide variety of government and private-sector applications in water resource management, disaster emergency preparedness, weather and flood 

forecasting, agriculture, transportation and commerce. Planned for July 2016, the NWC will deliver the National Water Model (NWM) (http://water.noaa.gov/about/nwm). The NWM is a high 

spatial and temporal resolution, continental-scale model of the Nation’s river and stream network. The underpinning technology for the NWM is a community-based, Earth System Modeling 

Framework (ESMF)-compliant, modeling framework. The NWM will augment and expand NOAA’s current water quantity forecasts, delivered for approximately 4000 river locations with 

stream gages, primarily operated by the USGS, across the country, to streamflow forecasts for 

2.7 million streams nationwide, and high-resolution gridded forecasts of soil moisture, evapotranspiration, runoff, and other parameters. Future services, enabled by the NWM, will strengthen the Nation’s water forecast capabilities for floods and droughts, improve preparedness for 

water related disasters, and inform high-value water decisions at the local, state and national 

levels.

Personnel at the NCEP’s WPC (http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov), located in College Park, Maryland, routinely prepare a spectrum of analyses and forecast products spanning the period out to 

7 days. The product suite is focused on heavy rainfall and heavy snowfall, and is used by the 

WFOs to develop local rainfall, snow, and ice forecasts. RFCs use the products to develop local 

river and flood forecasts. WPC collaborates with RFCs, WFOs and other Federal agencies, 

such as FEMA, during major flood and snowstorm events. In addition to the heavy precipitation 

focus, the WPC also provides an array of surface analyses and short-range forecast products, 

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and medium-range forecast products used by NWS field offices and the weather enterprise to 

enable readiness for high-impact weather.

NCEP’s CPC monitors and forecasts short-term climate fluctuations and generates guidance to 

communicate the effects climate patterns can have on the Nation. CPC develops and produces 

a suite of climate prediction and monitoring products, assessments, and discussions. These 

forecast products include 6-10 day, 8-14 day, one-month, and three month outlooks which depict the probability the temperature and precipitation will be above or below normal. CPC also 

routinely produces a U.S. Hazards Outlook, a U.S. Monthly Drought Outlook, a U.S. Seasonal 

Drought Outlook. CPC also partners with the USDA and the National Drought Mitigation Center 

to produce the U.S. Drought Monitor. These products are used by WFOs and RFCs to enhance 

decision support services and serve as an input to RFC-generated, ensemble-based, extended 

range (probabilistic) river forecasts.

The Community Hydrologic Prediction System (CHPS; 

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/oh/hrl/chps/index.html) is an operational framework that allows for 

broad systems interoperability at the 13 NWS RFCs, and supports new water resources-related 

forecasts. It reinforces NOAA’s national water information strategy, allowing NOAA’s research 

and development enterprise and operational service delivery infrastructure to be integrated and 

leveraged with other Federal water agency activities and the private sector. Through CHPS, and 

under the auspices of the IWRSS Consortium, NOAA plans to deliver a new suite of highresolution forecasts (including estimates of uncertainty) for streamflow, soil moisture, soil temperature, and many other variables directly related to watershed conditions via collaboration and 

sharing of data and models with other Federal, university, and private-sector experts. Furthermore, these activities will enable NOAA to deliver a national database of hydrologic analyses 

and predictions and generate user-friendly geographic information system (GIS) products for 

monitoring floods and drought. This activity contributes to the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS).

Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS)

The overarching goals of AHPS are to provide: a) better forecast accuracy by incorporating advanced hydrologic science into NWS models; b) more specific and timely information on fastrising floods by using tools which make it easier to rapidly identify small basins affected by 

heavy rainfall and excessive runoff, and predict the extent and timing of the resulting inundation; 

c) new types of forecast information by incorporating enhanced techniques for quantifying forecast certainty and conveying this information in products which specify the probability of reaching various water levels; d) longer forecast horizons; e) easier-to-use products; and f) increased, 

more timely, and consistent access to hydrologic information. AHPS includes a suite of webbased products and information designed to support more informed decisions through timely 

and accurate hydrologic forecasts and warnings. 

The NWS continues to implement AHPS which builds on the existing NWS infrastructure, including the Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS), NEXRAD, and CHPS.

AHPS also provides Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (ESP) - a capability that allows the NWS 

to generate extended range (probabilistic) river forecasts which quantify the forecast certainty. 

This information enables decision makers to apply risk-based analyses as they prepare for, and 

respond to, flooding and better balance competing demands on water supply, especially during 

periods of drought. The ESP capability is being expanded to include new techniques to facilitate 

the comprehensive generation of probabilistic hydrologic information seamlessly from short- to 

long- forecast horizons within CHPS. This enhanced capability is referred to as the Hydrologic 

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Ensemble Forecast Service (HEFS) and is being implemented at select river forecast locations 

across the country. 

Another AHPS capability, known as Flash Flood Monitoring and Prediction (FFMP), combines 

high-resolution radar rainfall observations with GIS technology to provide more accurate and 

precise flash flood detection. Flash floods, typically caused by intense, small-scale convective 

systems, are the leading cause of flood fatalities. The added precision provided by FFMP greatly reduces the area warned in flash flood warnings, making them more credible and leading to 

more effective and efficient public response, which ultimately saves lives. AHPS also provides 

opportunities to improve NOAA’s analysis and forecast capabilities related to coastal water conditions, through joint efforts with NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) and Office of Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Research (OAR).

Integrated Water Resources Science and Services (IWRSS). 

See Interagency Collaborative Programs and Products at the beginning of this section. 

NWS Partnerships for Hydrometeorological Products and Services

Partnerships with a variety of Federal, state, and local agencies are critical to the NWS Hydrologic Services Program. For example, the NWS works very closely on water-related issues with 

many federal water agencies including: the USGS, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau 

of Land Management in the Department of the Interior; with the USACE in the Department of 

Defense; the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); and 

FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Among these partnering activities are 

stream gaging, flood inundation mapping, river and water supply forecasting, and water management. For example, river stage and flow observations and stage discharge relationships 

provided by the USGS and reservoir operation information provided by the USACE, are critical 

to NWS warning and forecast operations for the Nation’s rivers. 

NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO)

Within the NOAA/Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) aircraft fleet, the AC-695A 

Commander 1000 (N45RF) and a DHC-6 Twin Otter (N46RF or N48RF) are used annually to 

conduct important snow-pack surveys (see http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/snowsurvey/) and soil 

moisture measurements throughout the U.S. During these survey flights, the gamma radiation 

sensors aboard these aircraft measure the naturally occurring terrestrial radiation emitted from 

the ground to obtain snow-water and soil moisture equivalent estimates. The data are transmitted to the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC; 

http://www.nohrsc.nws.gov/) up to three times a day, and, after further processing, the data are 

distributed to NWS field offices within five minutes of receipt from the aircraft. These data are 

used by the NWS to forecast river levels and potential flood events, resulting from snowmelt water runoff. Hydroelectric power interests and other water supply managers also use the data to 

regulate water storage and delivery. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture

NRCS Hydrometeorological Observations

Snowmelt provides the majority of the annual water supply in the Western United States; therefore, having information on snowpack is critical for water supply forecasts and management. 

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The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) measures snowpack and collects hydrometeorological data in 13 Western States, including Alaska. NRCS’ Snow Survey and Water 

Supply Forecasting (SSWSF) Program conducts snow surveys at high elevations in the mountainous West. The data collection system includes approximately 1,112 active manual snow 

courses in the United States and Canada (Canada operates their own data collection, but 

shares data with US), and more than 878 automated Snow Telemetry (SNOTEL) and aerial 

markers (SNOLITE) monitoring stations. The NRCS collects data at the manual snow courses in 

cooperation with a number of different Federal, State, local, and private partners, as well as Canadian agencies. The SNOTEL and manual snow course data, along with data from streamgages, major reservoirs, and climatological observation stations managed by other agencies, 

are merged into a hydroclimatic database that is used to produce real-time watershed analyses 

and water supply forecasts. The purpose of water supply forecasts are to: (1) help irrigators 

make the most effective use of limited water supplies for agricultural production needs; (2) assist the Federal government in administering international water treaties with Canada and Mexico; (3) assist State governments in managing intrastate streams and interstate water compacts; 

(4) assist municipalities in planning the early management of anticipated water supplies and 

drought mitigation; (5) operate reservoirs to satisfy multiple use demands, including hydropower 

generation; (6) mitigate flood damages in levied areas and downstream from reservoirs; and (7) 

support fish and wildlife management activities associated with species protection legislation.

The automated SNOTEL and SNOLITE network transmits data from remote sites and is served 

on the web by the National Water and Climate Center in Portland, Oregon. The SNOTEL and 

SNOLITE network provides near-real-time remote hydrometeorological data that significantly 

improve flood stage forecasts and the monitoring of other life-threatening snow-related events. 

The primary use of the snow survey data is the production of water supply forecasts for more 

than 641 Western basins. All SNOTEL and SNOLITE data are provided hourly on the web and 

utilized by groups such as the National Weather Service (NWS) to assist in forecasting flood 

events. SNOTEL and SNOLITE information enables emergency management agencies to effectively mitigate drought and flood damages and to monitor and assess wildfire potential.

Water supply forecasts are produced bi-monthly each year from January through June, as well 

as mid-month forecasts and daily guidance for some basins beginning in December. The NRCS 

furnishes snow measurements that are combined with advanced snow modeling and analysis 

provided by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center continues to support joint NWS-NRCS efforts. The 

NRCS typically develops nearly 12,000 seasonal water supply forecasts for 641 streamflow 

forecast locations in 13 Western States. In addition, the Program provides daily water supply 

guidance forecasts for 331 of the 641 Western basins. These products provide information for 

water managers to adapt to weather changes as they occur. The web link for this information is 

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/wsf/daily_forecasts.html.

Historical snow survey data are valuable to climate change researchers to aid in developing reliable projections of climate change. It has been projected that changes to the hydrologic cycle 

in the Western States, resulting from changes in snowpack conditions and timing of snowmelt, 

will increase the water supply challenges the States face. Monitoring data provides assistance 

to water managers at all levels to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Snowpack measurements extend back decades, and in some cases over 100 years, highlighting the value of this 

high-altitude network for understanding and assessing changes in climate.

The SSWSF Program provides a variety of climate and water supply products that are used to 

assess drought in the West. These include SNOTEL snowpack and precipitation analyses in the 

mountains, water supply forecasts, and State Surface Water Supply Indexes (SWSI). These 

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products are critical to the weekly production of the interagency Drought Monitor, a web-based 

report. Separate from the SSWSF Program, the NRCS also manages a cooperative nationwide 

network of 220 Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) sites in 40 States, as well as Puerto Rico 

and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These SCAN sites monitor soil temperature and soil moisture, 

which support national drought monitoring, agriculture production, and climate change research. 

Presently, more than 430 SNOTEL stations also have soil moisture and soil temperature sensors. 

U.S Army Corps of Engineers

In its civil operational activities, the Corps of Engineers (COE) uses a network of about 10,850 

land-based gages. About 55 percent of these sites collect meteorological data, 35 percent collect a combination of hydrologic and meteorological data, and 10 percent collect hydrologic or 

water quality data. The meteorological gages commonly measure precipitation and temperature.

All data are used in the regulation of COE dams and other water projects, for flood control, navigation, hydroelectric power, irrigation, water supply, water quality, and recreation. The COE 

funds or partially funds nearly half of all the gages it uses.

The COE funds NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS) to collect and maintain precipitation 

information from 876 meteorological sites. The COE funds the NWS for hydro-meteorological 

studies and funds the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for maintaining hydro-meteorological data collection services for 2479 sites. The rest of the sites are maintained by the COE. Services 

performed by USGS vary by site and by year, and can include site visits, maintenance of 

equipment, replacement of damaged equipment, field measurements for verification of data and 

continuous monitoring of data results. About 90 percent of all COE sites provide real-time data 

via satellite, microwaves, meterbursts, landlines, or radio. Data from COE gage sites are available to NWS, and to other federal, state and local agencies. 

U.S. Geological Survey

Hydrometeorological Data Collection and Distribution

The USGS’s Water Mission Area (WMA) collects 

streamflow, precipitation, water quality, groundwater level, and other water resources and climatological data as part of a national network and 

for a number of projects concerning rainfallrunoff, water quality, and hydrologic processes. 

Currently, the USGS collects continuous hydrologic and meteorological data at about 9,000 surface water sites, 2,700 ground water-level sites, 

and 1,500 water quality sites. Periodic records 

are collected at approximately 1,500 additional 

surface water sites, 20,000 ground water sites, 

and 10,300 water quality sites. Precipitation records are collected at about 800 sites.

Near-real-time streamflow data and ancillary information are provided to NWS RFCs for river 

forecast locations and to general public for all 

USGS streamgages via USGS NWIS website 

Figure 1: The USGS has developed new rapidly deploy-able, mobile streamgages to provide short-term 

water-level data to critical areas lacking permanent 

streamgages. Image provided by USGS Office of Surface Water.

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(http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/). Additional historical and real-time water resources data also 

are available. During floods, these data are supplemented by additional flood flow measurements. 

The USGS also collects precipitation samples at a number of sites to determine the atmospheric 

contribution of chemical constituent loads to runoff, and for defining the effect of atmospheric 

deposition on water quality and the aquatic environment.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

At the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), work continues regarding the evaluation of external hazard impacts on nuclear power plant licensees, which includes considering the effects 

from large precipitation events, snow pack and subsequent snow load, ice impacts, and other 

meteorological events that may potentially drive flooding hazards, such as storm surge. This 

work is in response to the accident that occurred at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant 

as a result of the Great Tohōku Earthquake and subsequent tsunami that occurred on March 

11, 2011. Letters were issued to operating nuclear power plant licensees in order to request that 

they reevaluate all flooding hazards at their sites. The reevaluations were to be completed using 

updated information and present-day regulatory guidance and methodologies. The NRC staff, 

along with support from its consultants, continues to review these flood hazard reevaluations 

and the supplementary site-specific probable maximum precipitation analyses that have been 

submitted by licensees.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

NOAA/Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

Hydrometeorology Testbed (HMT)

The HMT conducts development and demonstration activities on precipitation and extreme 

weather conditions that can lead to both flooding and drought, and fosters and accelerates transition of scientific advances and new tools into forecasting operations. Projects supported under 

HMT include those with middle to high Readiness Levels (RLs) that need support to transition 

them into NOAA operations. HMT's outputs support efforts to balance water resource demands 

and flood control in a changing climate. The HMT is a national program aimed at accelerating 

the infusion of new technologies, models, and scientific results from the research community 

into daily forecasting operations of the NWS at both the national (NCEP Weather Prediction 

Center and National Water Center) and regional (regional forecast centers and local forecast 

offices) levels. Activities at the HMT, which operates as an end-to-end demonstration project 

with forecasters and researchers joining forces in the operational setting, has focused on improving regional forecasts of extreme precipitation, both too much and too little. This is achieved 

by a combination of: a) unique observations designed to monitor precipitation, kinematic, and 

surface processes; b) transition research aimed at improved understanding of physical processes leading to extreme precipitation; and c) operational forecast experiments to test new tools, 

methods, and models. HMT partners with organizations across NOAA, including NESDIS, OAR, 

NWS, NMFS, and NOS as well as regional academic and State authorities. 

HMT is managed by OAR/ESRL’s Physical Sciences Division (PSD) in coordination with NWS’s 

Weather Prediction Center. The Office of Weather and Air Quality (OWAQ) is an executive 

sponsor and funds many of the HMT projects through the U.S. Weather Research Program 

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(USWRP). Currently OWAQ is supporting five HMT projects that began in September 2015 and 

will continue for two years. OWAQ will coordinate a new external competition in FY16 for new 

projects that will start in FY17. Transition plans will be developed to describe the tasks and time 

table for transition of the current projects into an operational implementation in the NWS.

In FY17, ESRL/PSD will continue to operate and maintain major West Coast observing networks that are sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources (CA-DWR) and the 

U.S. Dept. of Energy through the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. In California, there are 

four primary types of observing networks that are each designed to help forecasters and other 

end users monitor storm-scale and climate change impacts. In Oregon and Washington, the 

primary purpose of the observing networks is to aid with wind energy forecasting. ESRL/PSD 

and HMT are also leading several projects in the California Russian River watershed as part of 

the NOAA Habitat Blueprint, aimed at sustaining healthy ecosystems. NSSL and HMT are conducting the HMT-Hydro testbed experiment in July of 2016 and 2017 in order to evaluate the 

latest developments in flash flood prediction tools and display software. ESRL/PSD will continue 

to implement an AWIPS-II development capability in FY17 to help foster the transition of HMT 

research products and data displays into operations. PSD and the NWS National Centers for 

Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Weather Prediction Center (WPC) are partnering to focus on 

improved predictions and forecasts of hydrometeorological fluxes for use as forcings for hydrologic predictions by NOAA’s National Water Center.

Earth System Research Laboratory 

Global Systems Division (GSD) works to streamline the process of issuing life-saving river flood, 

flash flood, and areal flood watches, warnings, and advisories. Experimental Hazard Services is 

a joint project between GSD, the NWS, and Raytheon. In the 2016 HWT-Hydro Experiment, researchers explored the utility of experimental watch and warning products conveying uncertainty 

and magnitude issued through the Hazard Services software. This allows research scientists to 

investigate human factors to determine operationally relevant best practices for the warning decision making process and the system usability of the Hazard Services platform. This evaluation will also take place in the summer of 2017. In 2018, the software will reach a level a maturity for transition to operations.

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)

GLERL conducts research and modeling to advance understanding of the hydrometeorological 

and hydrologic system of the Great Lakes basin. The Great Lakes is unique among hydrologic 

catchments worldwide in having about one-third of its area covered by fresh water, thus affording water a stronger second chance to evaporate while within a water body in addition to evapotranspiration from the land areas. Economic sectors such as fishing, shipping, and recreation 

are linked to the lake levels and water quality of the Great Lakes. A major product from GLERL 

is the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction System (AHPS, different from the NWS product of the 

same name) that provides probabilistic outlooks on a seasonal time scale, based on the Climate 

Prediction Center's meteorological outlooks (and corresponding Canadian products), for lake 

levels, precipitation, river flow, and other variables. GLERL also has the Great Lakes Hydrometeorological Dashboard, a web-based system for displaying a wide variety of observational and 

model-generated data for lake levels, precipitation, ice cover, evaporation, and other variables. 

GLERL's hydrologic activities are coordinated with cooperating groups in both the operational 

and research realm through the Coordinating Committee on Great Lakes Basic Hydraulic and 

Hydrologic Data (CCGLBHHD, or "The Coordinating Committee"), including other US Government entities (US Geological Survey, US Army Corps of Engineers, EPA, and NOAA National 

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Ocean Service) and the Canadian Government (Environment Canada). Because of its level of 

expertise, GLERL is leading the development of the Great Lakes portion of the new National 

Water Model.

National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

Storm-scale Hydrometeorology Research.

NSSL is working with the NWS to bring enhanced weather information and capabilities to operations. After more than a decade of development, testing and experimental evaluation, NSSL, in 

collaboration with the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), has delivered an 

operational Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system for use in NWS operations. MRMS assimilates and “cleans up” data from a wide variety of sources including radar networks, satellites, 

and surface observations to provide forecasters and hydrologists with the best-possible realtime analysis of the hazardous weather. The MRMS has facilitated considerable improvement in 

radar-based rainfall estimates and provides forecasters and hydrologists with an ability to “mine” 

the data set to extract new types of aviation, severe and hydrologic weather information. By 

placing high-quality, remotely-sensed data in a three-dimensional framework accessible to NWS 

forecasters, MRMS has opened the door to exciting new possibilities in improving flash flood 

and severe weather warnings, as well as short term forecasts.

The MRMS suite of quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) incorporates information from 

operational and research weather surveillance radars (e.g., NOAA/NWS WSR-88Ds, FAA Terminal Doppler Weather Radars, deployable “gap-filling radars, Canadian operational network 

radars, etc), GOES satellite data, lightning flash detections, rain gauge accumulations, surface 

and upper air observations, and numerical model outputs to produce CONUS wide gridded precipitation estimates. These precipitation products, with their different levels of complexity, each 

have strengths and weaknesses that vary with season, geography, and precipitation type. The 

MRMS QPE initial operating capability is unique in the way that it uses dual polarization radar 

moments to improve the quality of the precipitation maps, automatically identifies the precipitation type at each grid point, applies differential Z-R relationships, corrects for the vertical profile 

of reflectivity, merges radar-based estimates with rain gauges, and estimates surface precipitation type. The proven accuracy and unprecedented high-resolution of the MRMS QPEs enables 

them to be used as forcing to a state-of-the-science flash flood prediction system. The MRMS 

QPE continues to improve by utilizing new dual-polarization radar techniques such as specific 

attenuation that is immune to radar calibration errors and to beam blockages. Further, the 

MRMS products are expanding in spatial coverage with the integration of new satellite observations (GOES-R, GPM) of increased spatiotemporal resolutions.

The Flooded Locations And Simulated Hydrographs (FLASH) project takes advantage of the 

MRMS QPEs that capture rainfall at flash flood scale. The rainfall estimates are used to produce 

a suite of flash flooding products including the ratio of QPE-to-flash flood guidance, rainfall average recurrence interval, and streamflow forecasts from the Ensemble Framework for Flash 

Flood Forecasting (EF5). EF5 yields forecasts of flash flooding using two different water balance 

configurations out to 6 hours in the future at every grid point in the conterminous US. FLASH is 

presently running in real-time and will be transferred to NWS operations using the MRMS research-to-operations conduit. FLASH outputs have been evaluated by forecasters during the 

Flash Flooding and Intense Rainfall (FFaIR) testbed experiment at the Weather Prediction Center in 2013, the Hazardous Weather Testbed-Hydro experiment in 2014 the Hydrometeorological Testbed-Hydro experiment in 2015 and 2016. EF5 outputs have been produced for a 10-

year reanalysis period using MRMS forcing to and subsequently evaluated using USGS stream 

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gauges and show excellent skill in simulating peakflow magnitudes and timing of peakflow in 

gauged basins. A manuscript summarizing these results has been recently accepted for publication in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Given that the model parameters are 

based on observable features of the land surface, the same performance is to be expected in 

ungauged regions. The FLASH system offers an accurate, consistent, nation-wide solution for 

flash flood forecasting by the National Weather Service.

The Storm Surge Roadmap (SSR) provides a framework for a comprehensive NOAA strategy to 

holistically address the development of new technology, products and services to meet mission 

needs for storm surge and coastal total water level prediction. The SSR lays out the goals of 

NOAA’s storm surge enterprise and identifies solutions to meet them. The SSR addresses 

coastal inundation from both tropical and extratropical cyclones over all areas of U.S. interest, 

including impacts of storm surge on the riverine environment. SSR outputs provide forecasters 

with the necessary tools to more accurately forecast the threat of coastal inundation; ensure the 

threat of dangerous water levels is communicated to the public in an understandable manner, 

thereby facilitating them in making better life- and property-saving decisions; and enable clear 

articulation of risk information to decision-makers and other partners, thereby resulting in a reduction of vulnerability to risks associated with coastal inundation. The SSR project portfolio 

lays out how new storm surge technologies, products, and services will be developed to meet 

specific strategic objectives.

NSSL contributes within this framework through the Coastal and Inland Flooding Observation 

and Warning (CI-FLOW) project, a multi-organizational, inter-disciplinary research and development project led by NSSL focused on improving NOAA’s prediction of total water level within 

tidally influenced watersheds. A real-time coupled model system that captures the total water 

level (tides + waves + storm surge + runoff) was developed through the CI-FLOW project. The 

modeling system couples precipitation estimates (NSSL’s Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor system), a 

hydrologic model ensemble (NWS’s Hydrology Lab – Research Distributed Hydrologic Model), a 

storm surge model [ADvanced CIRCulation (ADCIRC) model], and a wave model (Simulating 

WAves Nearshore model) to obtain flood inundation extents and significant wave heights. The 

CI-FLOW project successfully tested the coupled modeling system in real time on Hurricane 

Earl (2010) and Hurricane Irene (2011) in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse basins in North Carolina. 

NOAA’s NWS, NOS, and OAR are synchronizing forecast capabilities to develop a national operational water forecast system. CI-FLOW is playing an active role in NOAA strategic planning 

for coupled river modeling by communicating research results learned throughout the history of 

the project.

Department of Agriculture

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Within the Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program, there are a number of agency 

initiatives that support research and development in regards to system operations. These initiatives include model development, quality assurance tools, radio and telemetry development, 

SCAN support, and radio spectrum management.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conducts meteorological research to support licensing activities. Current research activities include updating the methods used to estimate the 

effects of extreme precipitation events and developing an integrated approach for probabilistic 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

flood hazard assessments. The extreme precipitation work has been extended to assess the 

capability of regional numerical weather simulation models to accurately simulate extreme precipitation events (e.g., mesoscale convective systems and tropical cyclones) and to utilize these 

models in investigating the impact of climate change on extreme precipitation events. In addition, work has been initiated with the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation to focus on developing regional extreme precipitation frequency analyses with uncertainty regarding 

regions containing orographic features, and with help from the Department of Energy’s national 

laboratory system, NRC staff will also conduct an annual review of climate science and modeling research and assess the potential impacts to nuclear power plants.

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MILITARY SERVICES

OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

For each of the military services with meteorological operational programs (U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard), the discussion below first describes that service’s 

operational organizations, followed by a description of the principal meteorological products and 

services provided by these organizations. 

U.S. Air Force

Organizations, Products and Services

Air Force organizations characterize the environment and enable exploitation of weather information for air, ground, space, cyberspace, and intelligence operations. Air Force weather personnel provide mission-tailored air and space weather observations, forecasts, and services to 

the U.S. Air Force (USAF), U.S. Army (USA), and a variety of U.S. Government departments 

and agencies. 

The Air Force Director of Weather manages the Air Force weather community and oversees organization, training and equipping for weather personnel assigned to Air Force organizations, to 

include:

• Oversight of weather operations doctrine, policies, requirements, and standards for weather 

support for worldwide Air Force and Army;

• Evaluation of Air Force weather support effectiveness for worldwide military operations;

• Management of weather officer, enlisted, and civilian career fields, associated manpower, 

and organizational structure;

• Space weather operations capabilities in support of all elements of the DoD;

• Authoritative climatic data and information in support of, and consistent with National Climate Assessments and associated DoD activities involving the mitigation and adaptation of 

DoD and military planning and resource decisions, worldwide;

• Guidance and procedures to implement Air Force weather operations, to include Modeling 

and Simulation activities for the Air and Space Natural Environment;

• Oversight and advocacy for the Air Force weather systems and programs to include strategic planning, architecture, capabilities-based analyses, programming, budgeting and sustainment;

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Military Services are those meteorological operations, services, and capabilities established to meet the unique requirements of military user commands and their component elements. Programs and services that are not uniquely military in 

nature are reported under another service category (e.g., Basic Services, Aviation Services 

[civilian], Surface Transportation Services, or Emergency Response and Homeland Security

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Air Force weather operations operate with the Total Force concept, employing more than 4,000 

Active Duty and Reserve Component military and civilian personnel supporting Air Force and 

Army forces, worldwide. The majority of Air Force weather personnel are focused on two distinct, yet related functions: characterizing the past, current, and future state of the natural environment, and exploiting this information to make it actionable for military decision-makers.

Strategic Organizations. Weather operations functions are distributed across each Air Force 

Major Command. Largely functionally aligned, these commands perform the Air Forces’ core 

missions and functions, each including an integral part of Air Force weather community. Within 

the Air Force, weather operations are considered a subset of the Global Integrated Intelligence, 

Reconnaissance and Surveillance core function although weather personnel are an essential 

contributor to each and every core function.

Formal education and training functions are largely sustained within Air Education and Training 

Command. Air Force officers newly accessed into the weather career field are university graduates typically with a degree in meteorology/atmospheric science in order to meet aeronautical 

meteorologist forecaster minimum standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization 

and the World Meteorological Organization. Since these officers have a foundation in meteorology, they attend only a short weather course to start their career. new enlisted weather personnel attend the rigorous Weather Apprentice Course. At every weather Airman’s first weather duty assignment, they gain a combination of operational experience and further skill upgrade training in accordance with the officer or enlisted weather career field education and training plan. All 

Continuation training programs for both officer and enlisted personnel ensure continuous learning appropriate to the supported mission and location infused with professional military education at the appropriate times. After initial assignments, Air Force weather officers may compete 

each year to attend one of the funded advanced degree program slots (M.S. and Ph.D.) through 

the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Integrated life cycle management functions for Air Force weather systems are conducted by 

supporting program execution offices within Air Force Material Command and Air Force Space 

Command. This includes all Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E), acquisition 

and sustainment activities. See 

Space Weather Services for additional information on Air Force 

Research Laboratory

In 2015, the Air Force established its only current weather 

wing. The weather wing has 

squadrons focused on weather 

production at the strategic and 

operational levels. The weather 

wing delivers worldwide weather 

products to Air Force and Army 

units, unified commands, National Programs, and the National Command Authorities. The 

weather wing supplies weather 

products, and manages all regional Operational Weather 

Squadrons and several specialized squadrons. Additionally, 

Figure 1 Four-dimensional weather scenarios provide realistic 

simulations of weather effects on operations and are integrated 

into live, virtual and constructive (LVC) training.

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squadrons are dedicated to build and maintain the world’s most comprehensive weather database of observation, forecast, climatological, and space weather products available to DoD personnel through specified reach-back services.

Within the weather wing are co-located specialized weather squadrons that form a multi-million 

dollar strategic computer complex, production network, and applications. These units run the 

predictive models to include ensemble products to assist in predictive probability and the Global 

Air-Land Weather Exploitation Model (GALWEM) which is the basis of most Air Force weather 

prediction products. To support the analysis and prediction of the GALWEM, and other missions, these units perform satellite data processing, ingesting and storing worldwide meteorological satellite data to process data collected from Allies and ground stations established 

across various operational support squadrons across the globe. The Defense Meteorological 

Satellite Program (DMSP), operated by the Air Force, sustains a satellite in polar-orbit to provide cloud, upper air, and space environmental data, and is a vital source of global weather data 

and information used to support intelligence community and military operations for more than 5 

decades. These strategic units also have the ability to generate realistic climatic-based scenarios to support military training events, especially those in support of the Army’s Mission Command Training Program. 

Space weather support to DoD is provided through a specialized, strategic-level weather squadron and its several solar observatories. This weather squadron uses space weather data collected from ground and space-based sensors to provide mission-tailored analyses, forecasts, 

warnings and strategic level products. These personnel monitor solar flares, noise storms, and 

other releases of energy from the sun and, when necessary, notify military and civilian organizations concerned with space weather, power, and communications in countries throughout the 

world. See the section on Space Weather Services for further information. Due to related missions supporting space-based assets, the squadron also provides or arranges support to the 

DoD intelligence community and complements products issued by internationally-accepted volcanic ash advisory centers to ensure safety of global DoD aviation.

Similar to space weather support, climatic support is performed through a specialized weather 

squadron (see Climate Services).

Operational Weather Squadrons. The Operational Weather Squadron forms the backbone 

of regionally focused reach-back weather operations, providing a variety of weather forecast 

products (such as terminal aerodrome forecasts, weather watches, warnings, and advisories, 

aviation hazards and cloud forecasts) and support to Air Force, Army, Air National Guard, Air 

Force Reserve forces, and other users as directed in their respective operational areas. Operational Weather Squadron areas of responsibility are generally aligned with the Unified Command Plan’s geographic combatant commands. Operational Weather Squadron products generally focus on characterizing the atmosphere for use by air operations centers, weather squadrons, operational support squadrons, weather flights, and other units.

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Figure 2: Operational Weather Squadrons Areas of Responsibility (AORs).

Figure 3: Example of Air Force weather support products.

Air Operations Centers. Air Force weather personnel supporting geographic and functional 

air operations centers under operational control of their respective combatant commanders integrate weather into the Air Force’s cornerstone operational-level command and control unit.

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The air operations center focuses on planning and application of air and space power for ongoing military operations. The size of the weather support element is flexible and responsive to the 

changing requirements of the operation. For example, at a geographic air operations center, 

weather personnel support other specialty teams, such as the battlefield coordination detachment and the joint personnel recovery center. As another example, in a functional space air operations center, the weather personnel also support the Unified Space Vault Division. The air 

operations center’s weather element normally reaches back to a supporting operational weather 

squadron for a significant portion of weather information needed to support air operations center 

operations.

Operational Support Squadrons. At the installation-level, whether deployed for expeditionary operations or at a permanent installation, an operational support squadron typically has a 

weather flight that that is the interface with the broader Air Force community. These personnel 

are responsible for surface weather observations at all Air Force-controlled airfields and the 

“eyes forward” for the supporting Operational Weather Squadron. These Air Force personnel 

also provide tailored, mission-specific forecast products to their co-located supported units on 

the installation. In some expeditionary instances, weather personnel are directly assigned to a 

flying squadron to provide more tailored, specific weather information in support of operations.

Special Tactics Squadron/Special Operations Weather Team. Air Force special operations weather team personnel are specially trained enlisted personnel who operate with their Air 

Force and Army special operations counterparts and provide critical weather information in denied areas. These personnel are recruited to have the skills of a meteorological technician and 

also pass rigorous physical standards. Special skills include, but are not limited to parachutist 

operations, explosive ordinance training, and advance survival skills consistent with some Army 

Special Forces counterparts. U.S. Special Operations Command funds unique weather systems 

not provided by the other services to sustain their capabilities.

Weather Squadron and Air National Guard Weather Flight Support to Conventional Army 

Operations. Weather Airmen with missions to provide support to Army units have special combat skills commensurate with their supported Army unit(s), which could include the ability to parachute into operations. They predict the effect weather will have on Army operations, giving decision-makers at all levels the ability to adjust operational and tactical strategies to ensure mission success. The Air Force provides direct weather 

support to Army Service Component Commands, Corps, 

Divisions, Brigade Combat Teams, Aviation Brigades/Battalions, and in some cases down to platoonlevel unmanned aerial systems support. Weather technicians and meteorologists assigned to support Army units 

are expected to forecast the weather anywhere the supported Army unit deploys.

Space Launch Support. Air Force meteorological 

support for space launches is discussed in the Other 

Specialized Services section of this plan.

Air Force Reserve Component. The Reserve Component includes weather Airmen in both the Air Force 

Reserve Command (AFRC) and the Air National Guard (ANG). The Air Force integrates these 

forces to more closely align with active duty weather operations. AFRC weather personnel 

augment the active duty force at all organizational levels. In some cases, the AFRC provides 

Figure 4: The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters,” 

gathering atmospheric data to relay to the 

National Hurricane Center for their forecast models. (U.S. Air Force photo by 

Staff Sgt. Valerie Smock)

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very unique weather-related services not duplicated in the active duty force, such as AFRC’s 

“Hurricane Hunters.”

The AFRC’s “Hurricane Hunters,” assigned to a Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, provided 

means of collecting vital meteorological data, especially in and around tropical cyclones (See 

Emergency Response Section). Their specially equipped WC-130J aircraft collect temperature, 

moisture, wind, pressure, and visually observed information at the aircraft location as well as 

vertical profiles of the atmosphere collected by dropsondes. Hurricane Hunter aircraft penetrate 

the eyes of tropical cyclones to provide the National Hurricane Center very accurate center fix 

locations as well as other meteorological parameters, including sea level pressure. In addition to 

tropical cyclone reconnaissance, the unit is available to respond to other civil support missions 

such as collecting meteorological information to improve wintertime West Coast forecasts and to 

support scientific field programs. 

To augment Operational Weather Squadron operations, AFRC organized two operational 

weather flights, each staffed by AFRC weather personnel, capable of augmenting an Operational Weather Squadron. Additional Air Force Reserve weather personnel serve as individual 

mobilization augmentees assigned to various active Air Force organizations at all echelons, typically in staff, forecasting, or scientific roles. There are weather traditional reservists working 

with an AFRC Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) units. There are also Air Force Reserve weather 

personnel in Air Reserve Technician positions, i.e., combined full-time Civil Service/Air Force 

Reserve military positions, employed by HQ AFRC as a staff weather officer and by the Weather Reconnaissance Squadron as aerial reconnaissance weather officers. Lastly, AFRC civil service and contract weather personnel provide weather services at AFRC-operated bases in the 

U.S. 

The ANG traditional program numbered weather flights, who meet monthly to train for their wartime mission. These flights provide weather support to ANG and Army National Guard units as 

mentioned in the previous paragraph. Air Combat Command (ACC)-gained ANG wings also 

have up to four traditional weather positions to provide weather operations for each wing’s flying 

mission. In addition, there are traditional weather positions in ANG Special Tactics Squadrons 

(Air Force Special Operations Command), and ANG RPA units. The ANG also has contract and 

civil service locations where it is responsible for providing peacetime weather support to airfield 

operations.

U.S. Army

USA Weather Support Structure

Weather support within the Army is a mix of Army and Air Force personnel and equipment in 

accordance with a United States Army (USA)–United States Air Force (USAF) agreement: Army 

Regulation [AR] 115-10/Air Force Instruction [AFI] 15-157 (IP), Weather Support for the U.S. 

Army, 10 September 2015. This multi-Service regulation describes the responsibilities of USAF 

and USA for providing weather support. Under this agreement, the USAF provides the Army 

with the necessary labor and unique tactical and fixed weather equipment to meet Army tactical, 

installation, and airfield support requirements for both Active and Reserve Components. The 

USAF assigns Air Force weather personnel to provide direct and indirect weather support to the 

Army Commands, Army Service Component Commands, and installations. The Army provides 

assigned Air Force personnel the equipment necessary to perform their Army support mission in 

the tactical environment. The Army also provides facilities and host services to Air Force per2-148
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sonnel assigned to Army installations. Each Service provides this support on a nonreimbursable basis.

Air Force Weather personnel provide installation, garrison, and tactical weather support on a 

daily basis to U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Europe, U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Army 

Special Operations Command, Eighth U.S. Army, and the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine 

Command (TRADOC). The Army provides operational weather support to Army research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) ranges, centers, and other research facilities using the 

Army Test and Evaluation Command’s meteorological teams. U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT) provides weather support to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll through a Meteorological Environmental Test Support contractor.

Headquarters, Department of the Army, Army Commands, and Army 

Service Component Commands

Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, 

G-2, employs two civilian meteorologists whose primary duties are to establish weather policy 

within the Army, coordinate on AF weather policy issues with the Air Force Director of Weather 

(HQ USAF/A3/5), submit approved Army weather requirements and priorities to the HQ 

USAF/A3/5, coordinate with the AF on Army-AF and Joint Service weather operational concepts 

and doctrine, serve as the Army staff lead for meteorological satellite capabilities and issues, 

and review and coordinate Army-related support issues with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Department of the AF, other Services, HQDA staffs, Army Commands, 

Direct Reporting Units, Army Service Component Commands, and other Federal Agencies. FY 

2017 activities will focus on meteorological satellite activities, coordination of meteorological activities within the Army, and development of DoD level policy with the Services, Joint Staff, and 

OSD.

The Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 (DCS, G-3/5/7), approves and prioritizes weather support requirements and programs to meet Army requirements, sets priorities for weather 

support for Army training and contingencies, coordinates with the HQ USAF on Army weather 

program and resource issues, and Army installation weather support requirements.

Project Manager Distributed Common Ground System – Army (PM DCGS-A) is a materiel developer of weather capability in the Army and reports to Program Executive Office Intelligence, 

Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEWS) and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)). DCGS-A work stations are issued to Air Force 

weather personnel providing direct weather support. In addition to developing, integrating, testing, and fielding capability, PM DCGS-A also leverages Air Force weather capability in support 

of Army operations.

Training and Doctrine Command. Headquarters, TRADOC, is responsible for leading the 

USA in development of and validating requirements for all Army weather capabilities and specifically for USA-USAF inter-Service weather operations, services concepts, and doctrine required 

in support of Army operations. TRADOC develops and manages USA weather training programs, documents standard USA equipment for use by AFW personnel in the Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE), and recommends modifications to the TOE and Common Table of 

Allowances to DCS, G-3/5/7, for approval as required. TRADOC’s Army Weather Proponent Office (AWPO) processes tactical Army weather support requirements, represents the Army’s 

warfighting functions by determining needed weather capabilities and processing weather requirements found in Joint and USA conceptual documents from TRADOC centers and schools.

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U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence. The U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence (USAICoE) is the TRADOC Army Weather Proponent Office (AWPO) for USA tactical 

weather support. As such, TRADOC’s AWPO represents the USA Warfighter by processing 

weather support requirements and developing solutions to satisfy those requirements when they 

are the responsibility of the USA. The AWPO collects and processes weather requirements from 

TRADOC schools/centers, USA Medical Command, and USA Corps of Engineers (USACE). 

Working through TRADOC/ARCIC USAICoE recommends solutions to satisfy those requirements by processing tactical USA weather support requirements through the Joint Capabilities 

Integration and Development System (JCIDS) process. The AWPO employs one Department of 

the Army Civilian (DAC) to lead these weather requirement efforts. This DAC oversees the AWPO efforts with the JCIDS process, and in all doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, education, personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) work. This JCIDS and DOTMLPF work 

occurs within USAICoE and in conjunction with other USA Centers of Excellence and Army research and experimentation organizations.

U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence (USAACE). USAACE provides 10 courses in the 

aviation training curriculum that contain weather training for aviators and unmanned aircraft systems operators. Currently USAACE owns six Automated Surface Observation Stations (ASOS) 

located within the USAACE flight training area (five) and one at Black Tower Unmanned Aerial 

System (UAS) training facility, Ft. Huachuca, AZ. These systems provide current weather data 

to the USAACE Air Force Weather Detachment located at Cairns Army Airfield (OZR) in support 

of Ft. Rucker’s and the UAS flight training mission. The National Weather service provides 

maintenance for these six systems through a contract at the cost of $25K a year, per system, for 

a total of $150K cost to USAACE ($175K in FY17).

Artillery Meteorological Education and Training. The U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence is the proponent for artillery meteorological education and training. Computer Meteorological Data- Profiler (CMD-P) (AN/GMK-2) is a weather measurement system developed to provide meteorological (MET) data to support artillery and target acquisition units. The AN/TSR-8 

Global Broadcast Service (GBS) Satellite Receiver Suite receives polar orbiter MET data & 

communications satellite data and Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System 

(NOGAPS) initialization data via a GBS satellite link. CMD-P provides MET data messages 

covering up to 500 km from the Profiler’s position. The CMD-P interfaces with the Advanced 

Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) via Local Area Network (LAN) connection and is 

operated by the AFATDS Operator 13D. In the future, the system will no longer require the GBS 

receiver suite as part of a profiler system but will rely on the GBS connection from the TOC LAN 

(MET data is downloaded on Compact Disc via internet from the 557th Weather Wing). The system software will be capable of providing Field Artillery Computer MET and Gridded MET messages on demand with or without an operator in-the-loop. These MET messages will be tailored 

to the mid-point of the trajectory for enhanced accuracy.

U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC). ATEC is responsible for providing 

operational meteorological support to USA RDT&E ranges. Under responsibilities established in 

AR 115-10/ AFI 15-157 (IP), ATEC meteorology teams provide meteorological data collection 

and analysis, and consultation to support USA and other DoD RDT&E activities at seven ATEC 

ranges.

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic 

Command Support to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site. A 

subcommand of SMDC/ARSTRAT provides operational support to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic 

Missile Defense Test Site, including support for range activities (local and remote missile 

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launches), missile weapons readiness testing, aviation and marine operations, and emergency 

operations. For further description of this support service, see “Other Specialized Services” in 

Section 2.

U.S. Army Products and Services

U.S. Army Artillery. The Profiler Block III provides highly accurate meteorological data to the 

Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data Systems (AFATDS) to adjust artillery fire. The system 

supports battalion and brigade Field Artillery units. The Profiler Block III is connected to the Tactical Operations Center local area network and provides the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical 

Data Systems (AFATDS) with the meteorological requirement for achieving first round hits and 

fires for effect. The Profiler Block III uses weather data obtained from the Air Force through Mission Command networks. It provides meteorological on demand with or without an operator inthe-loop to the AFATDS. A virtual module product improvement is currently under development 

and will be available in FY16 with an upgraded weather model and changing the software to be 

Common Operating Environment compliant.

Distributed Common Ground System–Army (DCGS-A). Weather Services. DCGS-A 

is the Army’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance enterprise for the analysis and processing, exploitation, and dissemination of information and intelligence data, across all echelons. DCGS-A leverages also Air Force Weather Capabilities, integrates tailored weather information and products provided by the Air Force and disseminates to Army command and control 

systems.

U.S. Navy

Operational Organizations

Oceanographer of the Navy. The Oceanographer of the Navy is the Chief of Naval Operations’ resource, requirements and policy advisor for the Navy’s Oceanography Program. He also 

serves as the Navy’s senior policy advisor for issues relating to national ocean policy and governance, and interagency ocean activities. The Office of the 

Oceanographer of the Navy’s (OCEANAV) mission is to provide 

Naval and Joint Forces with the environmental high ground through 

the use of physical battlespace information necessary to eliminate 

uncertainty and achieve a decisive warfighting competitive advantage.

The Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, serves as the focal 

point for matters related to the Naval Oceanography enterprise 

(NOe), the Arctic region, and other marine science fields. The 

Oceanographer and his staff work closely with Information Dominance Type Command (IDFOR), U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Pacific Command (USPACOM), and the Office of Naval Research to 

ensure the proper resources are available to meet operational requirements. As the functional manager for GI&S, he works within 

the National System for Geospatial-Intelligence (NSG) and liaises 

with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), National 

Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) for strategic METOC and PNT programs. He acts as 

Naval Deputy to the NOAA Administrator and represents the Naval 

Figure 5: RDML Tim Gallaudet, Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy. RDML Gallaudet also serves as Commander, Naval Oceanography 

and Meteorology Command 

(COMNAVMETOCCOM)

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Oceanography Program in interagency and international forums. 

The Navigator of the Navy provides guidance and standardization of METOC, maritime geospatial information, astrometric and precise-time models, databases, and environmental predictive 

techniques through the Oceanographic and Atmospheric Model Library (OAML). He coordinates 

NOe policy and architectures throughout Navy and DoD science and technology and RDT&E, 

along with related efforts in civilian agencies and develops means for transition from research to 

operational (R2O) applications. This integrated approach provides the Fleet and System Commands (SYSCOM) with critical information about the physical environment and its impacts on 

platforms, sensors, weapons, and personnel. Naval Meteorology and Oceanography support is 

integral to Navy, Marine Corps, and Joint Force capabilities to deter or win regional conflicts or 

major wars and conduct peacetime operations, including Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster 

Relief (HA/DR). CNO established the Information Warfare Forces Command (IFOR) the Navy’s 

newest TYCOM on 29 August 2014. IFOR integrates weather into the intelligence pillars of Battlespace Awareness, Assured Fires, and Assured Command and Control. With this integrated 

man, train and equip (MT&E) portfolio, IFOR will coordinate closely with the aviation, surface 

ship, and submarine platform TYCOMs to deliver enhanced Information Dominance capability 

and readiness to the fleet.

Deputy Chief of Naval 

Operations for Information Warfare N2/N6

Figure 6: Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare (N2/N6)

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This Command and Control (C2) preserves CNMOC as the Operational Commander which provides environmental knowledge that enables Fleet Forces to operate safely and efficiently, without capability loss, due to adverse environmental conditions. It also enables enhanced sensor 

and weapons performance, providing a competitive advantage in maritime warfare.

Task Force Climate Change (TFCC). The Oceanographer of the Navy serves as Director 

of TFCC and develops comprehensive approaches regarding the Arctic and global climate 

change to guide future Navy public, policy, and strategy discussions. The National Strategy for 

the Arctic Region signed in 2013, recognizes that the Arctic is opening up for human enterprise, 

energy resources and will continue to increase as a strategic priority for the United States and 

Navy.

The U.S. Navy Arctic Implementation Plan was issued in February 2015 and prepares the U.S. 

Navy to respond effectively to future contingencies, delineates the U.S. Navy’s Arctic Region 

leadership role within the Defense Department, and articulates the Navy’s support to national 

priorities. The Arctic and climate change Roadmaps provide all encompassing, chronological, 

science-based guidance for future Navy operational and action from 2014 through 2030.

• Arctic Observation/Prediction International Engagement Plan

 ONR leading development effort through Interagency Arctic Research Policy (IARPC) 

Committee

• Arctic Sensing Plan

 R&D collection efforts ongoing

 OPNAV developing sensing strategy => POM 18

 Improve Modeling/Prediction of Arctic Environment

Fleet Weather 

Center (FWC) 

CTU 80.7.7

San Diego, CA

Fleet Numerical 

Meteorology 

and Oceanography 

Center

Naval Oceanography ASW Center (NOAC)

CTE 80.7.4.3

Naval Oceanography Special Warfare 

Center (NOSWC)

CTE 80.7.4.1

San Diego, CA

CNMOC MSRC CP 

(58586)

CNMOC CP EAST 

(4385A)

NAVDEPNOAA DC 

(68027)

CNMOC CP PERS 

(4146A)

Shore 

duty

Sea Duty

Op Shore

Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare 

Center (NOMWC)

CTE 80.7.4.2

Commander, Naval 

Meteorology and 

Oceanography Command (CNMOC)

CTG 80.7

US Naval Observatory 

(USNO)

CTU 80.7.3

Washington

Naval Oceanography ASW Center 

(NOAC)

CTE 80.7.4.4

USNO 

Flagstaff 

Station

CTE)

NMOPDD 

Yokosuka 

CTE)

NMOPDD 

PAC CTE 

80.7.5.1

(6466)

NMOPDD 

LANT 

CTE

Naval Meteorology and 

Oceanography Professional Development Center

Fleet Weather 

Center (FWC)

CTU 80.7.6 

Norfolk, VA

Naval Ice 

Center (NIC)

CTE 80.7.6.1

Suitland, MD

Joint Typhoon 

Warning Center 

(JTWC) 

CTE 80.7.7.1

Pearl Harbor, HI

Naval Oceanographic Office 

(NAVO)

CTU 80.7.1

Stennis Space 

Center, MS

Fleet 

Survey 

Team 

(FST)

CTE 

80.7.1.1

Naval Oceanography Operations Command (NOOC)

CTU 80.7.4

Stennis Space

Figure 7: Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command CTG 80.7

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 ONR funding R&D of long-range Arctic models

 NRL sea ice prediction model

Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (COMNAVMETOCCOM) is responsible for the Command and management 

of the Naval Oceanography Program (NOP) utilizing meteorology and oceanography, GI&S, 

and precise time and astrometry, to leverage the environment to enable successful strategic, 

tactical and operational battle space utilization across the continuum of campaigning and at all 

levels of war: strategic, operational and tactical. COMNAVMETOCCOM will retain administrative 

control (ADCON) over the METOC fourth echelon commands, reporting to the Information Dominance Typer Command (IDFOR), and serving as the operational arm of the NOe. COMNAVMETOCCOM's assets are globally distributed at shore facilities in fleet concentration areas. 

Two central METOC Production Centers are located in the U.S. and operate through the Naval 

Oceanography Operations Command (NAVOCEANOPSCOM) at the Stennis Space Center 

(SSC) in Mississippi. As the Navy’s physical science team, Naval METOC personnel (Navy and 

Marine Corps) are highly educated sailors, marines, and civilians that measure and collect meteorological, oceanographic, hydrographic and other data relevant to the physical battlespace. 

They use the data to analyze and determine current conditions, forecast the future state, and 

provide mission-focused impacts that enable commanders to make well-informed operational 

decisions across the entire spectrum of warfare. Operational oceanography operates along 

eight distinct lines of operations: maritime operations, aviation operations, fleet operations, navigation, precise time and astrometry, expeditionary warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and mine 

warfare. Maritime operations enable the safe operation of ships and submarines at sea through 

individualized forecasts, monitoring of their movement relative to hazardous weather, and alternate route advisories as warranted. Aviation operations are similar, but focus on the safe navigation of aircraft. Fleet operations represent our oceanography forces deployed on aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, independent deployers and task forces. METOC and Navigation 

services enable safety of surface and 

subsurface operations and support the 

Global Positioning System, networks, 

communications, and space-based 

systems. Expeditionary warfare (amphibious warfare, riverine warfare and 

special operations), antisubmarine warfare, and mine warfare (offensive mining and defensive countermeasures 

and clearance), as their names imply, 

support their respective warfare areas 

via a mixture of forward-deployed and 

reach-back capabilities required to provide intelligence preparation of the operational environment (IPOE). 

COMNAVMETOCCOM is focused on 

providing critical environmental 

knowledge to the war fighting disciplines of Anti-Submarine Warfare; Naval Special Warfare; Mine Warfare; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; and Fleet Operations 

Figure 8: Naval personnel at Fleet Weather Centers monitor 

weather patterns and provide severe storm warnings to ships 

at sea and forces ashore.

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(Strike and Expeditionary), as well as to the support areas of Maritime Operations, Aviation Operations, Navigation, Precise Time, and Astrometry. 

Major activities and additional subordinates within the command include the following:

• NAVOCEANOPSCOM, Stennis Space Center, MS

• Fleet Weather Center Norfolk and Fleet Weather Center San Diego with subordinate units 

and detachments

• Naval Special Warfare Oceanography Center in San Diego, CA, (with components and detachments in Stuttgart, Germany, Norfolk, and Pearl Harbor)

• Naval Oceanography Anti-Submarine Warfare Centers in Yokosuka, Japan, and Stennis 

Space Center, MS (with subordinate detachments)

• Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), Stennis Space Center, MS

• Fleet Survey Team, Stennis Space Center, MS

• Naval Ice Center, Suitland, MD

• Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC), Monterey, CA

• USNO, Washington, DC

• Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Professional Development Center, Gulfport, MS, with 

detachments in Norfolk, VA; San Diego, CA; Pearl Harbor, HI; and Yokosuka, Japan

Naval Oceanography Operations Command. NAVOCEANOPSCOM is an echelon four 

METOC command that coordinates and manages efforts among field activities under the Operational Oceanography enterprise to optimize warfighting resources, support safe operations, and 

enhance decision superiority within the battlespace through superior understanding and exploitation of the environment. The Command encompasses warfighting and enabling directorates 

for: Aviation Operations, Maritime Operations, Fleet Operations, Precise Time and Astronomy, 

Navigation, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), Mine Warfare, Naval Special 

Warfare, and Anti-Submarine Warfare. Each directorate determines how that directorate’s services are delivered globally. Each directorate reports to a single Navy Captain who functions as 

Naval Oceanography’s Director of Operational Oceanography (DOO). The operations support 

portion of USN/USMC budget funds the day-to-day environmental support to the Department of 

Defense, the Active and Reserve Components of the Navy and Marine Corps, ten unified commands, and other agencies as directed by the Chief of Naval Operations. Over 1,228 military 

and civilian personnel conduct these activities at more than 22 locations worldwide.

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center. FNMOC, is an echelon four 

activity reporting to CNMOC, is the NOe production center for meteorology. This center plays a 

significant role in the national capability for operational weather and ocean prediction by implementing, operating, maintaining, and improving Numerical Weather Production (NWP) systems, 

Figure 9: Storm track predictions enable Naval METOC personnel to divert both ships and aircraft.

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including global and regional METOC models that extend from the top of the atmosphere to the 

bottom of the ocean. Since the end of the Navy’s Geosat Follow-On (GFO) satellite, the military 

has been reliant on the Ocean Surface Topography Mission for radar altimetry, a unique source 

for atmospheric, oceanographic, and geodetic data. Navy is working with NOAA to find partnership opportunities through the JASON radar altimetry program. Through close collaboration with 

NAVOCEANO, FNMOC is also a key component in the Navy’s operational weather and ocean 

prediction program. Naval operational oceanography is the key contributor to providing the predictive, physical maritime battlespace awareness capability. In the future, vital information from 

both intelligence and oceanography professionals will be fused into the same common operational picture afloat, providing a view of the battlespace we can only imagine today, ensuring 

better and faster warfighting decisions.

Figure 10: The Navy’s program in meteorology is closely linked with oceanography

Naval Oceanographic Office. NAVOCEANO is the NOe’s production center for oceanography. Comprised of approximately 800 military, civilian and contractor personnel, uses a variety 

of platforms, including ships, aircraft, satellite sensors, buoys and unmanned underwater vehicles to collect oceanographic and hydrographic data from the world’s oceans. Atmospheric conditions are inherently coupled to oceanographic conditions, which is the focus of the 

NAVOCEANO, Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. NAVOCEANO’s primary responsibilities include the collection, processing, and distribution of oceanographic, hydrographic, and other geophysical data and products. NAVOCEANO is responsible for the administration of a fleet of 

ocean-class hydrographic survey vessels and data from both aviation assets and spacecraft 

NAVOCEANO is headquartered at the Stennis Space Center, which is home to the Navy Department of Defense Supercomputing Resource Center that Navy, Army, and Air Force scientists and researchers use to design tools and weapons systems that support the Department of

Defense’s global mission. The Navy DSRC is a premier provider of high performance computing 

services and support to DoD scientists and engineers. It is one of five supercomputing centers 

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established under the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP). 

CNMOC maintains oversight of the Navy DSRC systems that have been operational since 

1997.The Navy DSRC provides a high performance computing capability with primary emphasis 

on support of the largest, most computationally-intensive HPC applications. Our center leads 

the way for numerous HPCMP-wide initiatives and provides our users with in-depth computational expertise and support. While the HPCMP is primarily focused on DoD research and development programs, the Navy DSRC is unique in that approximately 15 percent of its total capability is apportioned for operational use by naval operational oceanography. Today, the Navy 

DSRC enables, on a daily basis, operational, global, regional, and port scale ocean circulation, 

as well as wave and sea ice forecast numerical models supporting worldwide Navy and DoD 

operations. Navy DSRC’s total computational capacity affords us computational space to not 

only improve our ocean models, but to bring online world-class atmospheric models within the 

DSRC and begin to more tightly couple ocean and atmospheric physics and energy exchange 

to provide a more accurate, longer range future state of the atmosphere.

Navy Products and Services

Maritime Weather Operations. The Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, VA supports operations for Commander Second Fleet (North Atlantic); Commander, Fourth Fleet (Caribbean Sea 

and South Atlantic); Commander, Sixth Fleet (Mediterranean Sea), and Arctic Region operations.

The Fleet Weather Center in San Diego, CA supports operations for the Commander, Third 

Fleet (East Pacific); Commander, Fifth Fleet (Arabian Sea and Suez Canal); Commander, Seventh Fleet (West and Central Pacific) areas of responsibilities.

Navy meteorologists and forecasters provide Optimum Track Ship Routing (OTSR) and weather 

forecasts to support transoceanic voyages and coastal operations. OTSR services include:

Hazardous ocean and weather advisories and divert recommendations to ship Commanding 

Officers and Masters at sea

• Sortie recommendations for potentially damaging weather conditions in port

• Preliminary climatologic outlooks for transit and mission planning

• Routine ship weather forecasts and aviation weather forecasts for ship-based helicopters, to 

include high wind and seas warnings and local area warnings for Fleet Concentration Areas

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). The JTWC, established by the U.S. Pacific 

Command, is jointly manned with U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force personnel. The JTWC provides 

tropical cyclone reconnaissance, forecasts, warnings, and decision support products to U.S. 

government agencies operating in the Pacific and Indian Oceans as directed by Commander, 

U.S. Pacific Command. JTWC, located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is an internationally recognized 

tropical cyclone forecasting center.

FNMOC Numerical Weather Prediction Systems. FNMOC satisfies the military’s requirement for an operational global Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) capability. This requirement is driven by the importance of weather and ocean conditions on modern military operations, the need to use classified weather observations to guarantee the very best weather 

and ocean predictions in theaters of conflict, and the imperative to produce and disseminate 

weather and ocean products to military decision makers without fear of interruption or compromise as a result of cyber terrorists or cyber warfare. FNMOC employs four primary models—the 

Navy Global Environmental Model (NAVGEM), the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale 

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Prediction System (COAMPS), the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Navy (GFDN) model, and the 

Wave Watch III model (WW3)—along with a number of specialized models and related applications. 

• NAVGEM is an improvement to the former Navy Operational Global Atmospheric System 

(NOGAPS) that drives nearly all other FNMOC models and applications in some fashion, 

and forms the basis for the FNMOC global Ensemble Forecast System. 

• COAMPS is a high-resolution, non-hydrostatic regional model, multiply nested within 

NAVGEM. It has proven to be particularly valuable for forecasting weather and ocean conditions in highly complex coastal areas. 

• GFDN is a moving-nest tropical cyclone model, nested within NAVGEM. It is used to forecast tropical cyclone tracks globally.

• WW3 is a spectral ocean wave model that is employed both globally (driven by NAVGEM) 

and regionally (driven by COAMPS) in support of a wide variety of naval operations.

FNMOC Products and Services.

FNMOC’s complex and robust operational prediction capability is designed 

to deliver detailed forecasts of wind 

stresses and heat fluxes to drive very 

high-resolution ocean models that provide ocean thermal structure and currents in support of anti-submarine and 

mine warfare operations, or near-shore 

wind, sea, and surf forecasts that directly support Fleet Operations through 

ship-to-objective maneuver. FNMOC 

models feed directly into applications 

models, tactical decision aids, and other 

products that provide direct support to 

various weather-sensitive activities associated with the optimum path aircraft 

routing, optimum track ship routing, issuance of high-winds and high-seas warnings, hurricane/typhoon sortie decisions, covert ingress/egress of Special Operations Forces, ballistic missile targeting, cruise missile launch and 

targeting, radar, EO, and FLIR system performance prediction in support of ship self-defense, 

naval gunfire operations, understanding the threats posed by airborne nuclear/biological/chemical agents, search-and-rescue at sea, and many other activities.

Many of FNMOC’s products are distributed to users over the Web via the PC-based METCAST 

system, and subsequently displayed and manipulated on the user’s PC with the Joint METOC 

Viewer (JMV) software. This includes all standard METOC fields, synoptic observations, and 

satellite imagery. FNMOC provides a Web-based capability called WxMap (i.e., “Weather Map”). 

WxMap, requiring only a Web browser for access, allows the user to select and quickly display 

predicted METOC fields for any user-defined geographical area. FNMOC benefits greatly from 

collocation with its supporting R&D activity, the Marine Meteorology Division of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL/MRY). NRL/MRY is a world-class research organization, with focus on 

weather-related support to warfighting. FNMOC and NRL/MRY share space, data, software and 

computer systems, and together with the nearby Naval Postgraduate School represent one of 

the largest concentrations of weather-related intellectual capital in the Nation. Collocation and 

close cooperation between research and operations, such as exists between NRL/MRY and 

Figure 11: AG1 James Patterson with the 82nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, preparing a forecast.

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FNMOC, is the optimum arrangement for transitioning R&D quickly and cost effectively into new 

and improved operational weather prediction capabilities.

NAVOCEANO Products and Services. NAVOCEANO is the Navy's center for operational 

oceanographic support and provides daily analyses and forecasts of the ocean state with a series of global, regional, and coastal ocean circulation and wave models. The core of the system 

is the dynamic Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) which predicts three-dimensional ocean 

properties to 96 hours. The 1/8 degree (14km/7.5nm) resolution Global NCOM covers the world 

from pole to pole and is coupled with the Arctic Polar Ice Prediction System, which forecasts ice 

properties for the National Ice Center. Twelve regional NCOMs are on line with 24 planned in 

2014. Nested 1/36 degree (3km/1.7nm) regional NCOM domains of order 20 by 20 degree sizes 

provide high-resolution ocean forecasts in areas of Navy and national interest. Global and regional NCOM products and data fields are shared with our NOAA partners. 

NAVOCEANO runs a series of coastal, estuarine, and river domains with resolutions as fine as 

1/360 degree (300 m, 1000 ft) or less in the support of mine warfare and homeland security efforts. When appropriate, coastal NCOMs are supplemented by other models including HYDROMAP, DELFT3D, and PCTIDES. The NCOMs are initiated through the assimilation of 

ocean data from satellites (sea surface temperature and altimetry) and various surface and subsurface observing systems, including ship data, ARGO profiling floats, and gliders. Global 

NCOM will be replaced by the 1/12-degree resolution Global HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model, 

which was developed under the National Ocean Partnership Program by a consortium of government and academic scientists, led by NRL Stennis and including NOAA’s National Centers 

for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). 

NAVOCEANO is the Navy's primary processing facility for a number of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite collection systems, and is nationally recognized for satellite-derived seasurface temperature and satellite altimeter-derived sea surface topography and wave height observations. These products are shared with NOAA partners and are critically important to successfully running both the NAVOCEANO ocean models and FNMOC's NAVGEM and COAMPS 

atmospheric models.

U.S. Marine Corps

Operational Organizations

CMC, DC/AVN, APX-9. The senior USMC METOC officer is dual-hatted as the METOC Services Officer and the METOC Occupational Field (OccField) Sponsor. The billet resides within 

the Aviation Department, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington D.C. and is physically 

located in the Pentagon, Aviation Expeditionary Enablers (APX) branch.

The METOC Services Officer is the principal advisor and subject matter expert to the Deputy 

Commandant, Aviation. The Aviation Department mission is to assist and advise the Commandant of the Marine Corps on all matters relating to Marine Aviation consistent with Marine Corps 

requirements. Specific duties include, but are not limited to: advise the Commandant of the Marine Corps on aviation safety, aviation policies, and Joint matters relating to aviation; provide 

principal aviation staff interface with the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO); ensure Marine Corps 

Aviation operates in compliance with Naval Aviation directives and programs; member of the 

Joint METOC Board Executive Steering Group; member of the Battlespace Awareness Functional Capabilities Board; member of the Joint Capabilities Board; USMC liaison to the National 

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Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology.

The METOC Occupational Field Sponsor establishes policies and procedures for the effective 

management of officers and enlisted Marines serving in METOC billets across the MAGTF and 

supporting establishments.

Marine Liaison, Oceanographer of the Navy (N2/N6) The United States Marine Corps 

Liaison and Requirements Officer responsible for the funding of all programs associated with 

METOC support to the MAGTF resides within N2/N6E1, Oceanographer of the Navy, U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington D.C. N2/N6E1 reports directly to the Deputy CNO (DCNO) for Information Dominance to enable informed program wholeness and warfighting capability trades 

for information, cyber, and electronic warfare systems. Led by a two-star admiral, most of the 

N2/N6E1 staff, to include the admiral, have office spaces at the Pentagon. The N2/N6E1 USMC 

Requirements Officer represents the Deputy Commandant for Aviation in all aspects of METOC 

policy and procedures, requirements, acquisitions, and finance and must maintain familiarization 

with defense acquisition, technology, and logistics life cycle management framework. This officer also monitors Marine Corps METOC programs to ensure requirements are being met and 

advises the Program Sponsor of program status and milestone accomplishments.

Marine Liaison, Commander Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command The 

United States Marine Corps Liaison Officer, Commander Naval Meteorology and Oceanography 

Command (COMNAVMETOCCOM) resides within N3, and is the principal advisor and subject 

matter expert for all MAGTF METOC support capabilities. Duties include: assist COMNAVMETOCCOM in aligning the METOC support requirements for littoral and expeditionary 

warfare operations to include the proper employment and optimal utilization of MAGTF METOC 

capabilities in support of joint/combined operations; advise and assist COMNAVMETOCCOM in 

the planning, programming, budgeting, and procurement of MAGTF METOC equipment and in 

the preparation of concept of operations, specifications, and review of technical data for such 

equipment; assist in the development and review of METOC training materials, publications, instructions, and directives in support of MAGTF littoral and expeditionary warfare operations; and 

serve as direct Liaison between Headquarters, Marine Corps (APX-9), Director of Intelligence 

(DIRINT), and COMNAVMETOCCOM for all matters requiring the concurrence of the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Space and Naval Warfare System Command (SPAWAR) The SPAWAR METOC Officer 

serves as the Aviation Program Manager (APM) for METOC equipment in the Battlespace 

Awareness and Information Operations Program Office (PMW120) under the Program Executive Office (PEO) Command, Control, Communicate, Computers and Intelligence (C4I). Duties 

include: ensures that validated Marine Corps METOC requirements are satisfied; provides technical assistance regarding Marine Corps operations to other METOC project officers within and 

external to the METOC Systems Office; maintain, organize, and disseminate METOC software; 

and plan and manage the design, development, procurement, and life cycle support of hardware 

and software systems that measure, transmit, distribute, and process METOC data.

U.S. Marine Corps Forces (MARFOR). The MARFOR METOC officer serves as a Special 

Staff for the Commanding General of the MARFORs and resides within the G-2. The primary 

mission of the MARFOR METOC Officer is to advise and assist the MARFOR Commanding 

General in the development of METOC policies and the execution and management of METOC 

resources by planning, coordinating, and validating the collection, evaluation, interpretation, and 

dissemination of METOC data. Other duties include: maintain liaison with other Service counterparts and represent the MARFOR Commanding General at Joint Service METOC meetings; 

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maintain staff cognizance and management coordination for METOC-related matters; serves as 

the Marine Corps Senior METOC Officer (SMO) when the MARFOR Headquarters (HQ) deploys; conducts staff studies directly related to improving MAGTF Warfighting capabilities; prepare and present staff and command level briefings; provides staff support in planning for the 

employment and use of organic METOC assets, equipment, and capabilities; provide climatological, meteorological, tidal, astronomical, and other METOC data for planning; and develop 

and prepare the METOC annex (Annex H) for OPLANs or OPORDs and provides METOC input 

into the communications and information systems (CIS) annex (Annex K), the intelligence annex 

(Annex B), and other annexes as necessary regarding METOC issues. MARFOR billets include 

assignment to Marine Forces Pacific (MARFORPAC) Camp Smith, HI and Marine Forces 

Command (MARFORCOM) Norfolk, VA.

Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). The MEF METOC Officer serves as a Special Staff for 

the Commanding General of the MEF and resides within the G-2. The primary mission of the 

MEF METOC Officer is to advise and assist the MEF Commanding General in the development 

of METOC policies and the execution and management of METOC resources by planning, coordinating, and validating the collection, evaluation, interpretation, and dissemination of METOC 

data. Other duties include: maintain liaison with other Service counterparts and represent the 

MEF Commanding General at Joint Service METOC meetings; maintain staff cognizance and 

management coordination for METOC-related matters; serves as the Marine Corps SMO when 

the MEF HQ deploys; conducts staff studies directly related to improving MAGTF Warfighting 

capabilities; prepare and present staff and command level briefings; provides staff support in 

planning for the employment and use of organic METOC assets, equipment, and capabilities; 

provide climatological, meteorological, tidal, astronomical, and other METOC data for planning; 

and develop and prepare the METOC annex (Annex H) for OPLANs or OPORDs and provides 

METOC’s input into the CIS annex (Annex K), the intelligence annex (Annex B), and other annexes, as necessary regarding METOC issues.

Intelligence Battalion (Intel Bn). The Intel Bn provides the largest preponderance of METOC 

personnel outside of the Aviation Combat Element (ACE) and provides direct and general support METOC personnel in the form of METOC Support Teams (MSTs) to all other elements of 

the MAGTF. The Intel Bn’s primary mission is to provide direct METOC support to the MEF G-2. 

The secondary mission is to provide MSTs to the Command Element (CE), Ground Combat Element (GCE), Logistics Combat Element (LCE), and Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs); and 

are task-organized to support unique mission requirements.

Marine Division (MARDIV). The MARDIV METOC Chief serves as a Special Staff for the 

Commanding General of the MARDIV and resides within the G-2. The primary mission of the 

MARDIV METOC Chief is integrate into operational planning. Other duties include: prepare and 

present METOC briefs in support of mission planning and execution; forecast and identify environmental factors expected to impact operations; and provide expertise METOC input in the areas of Doctrine, Organization, Training, Material, Leadership, Personnel, and Facilities on behalf of the Commanding General of the MARDIV.

Marine Logistics Group (MLG) The MLG METOC Chief serves as a Special Staff for the 

Commanding General of the MLG and resides within the G-2. The primary mission of the MLG 

METOC Chief is to integrate into operational planning. Other duties include: prepare and present METOC briefs in support of mission planning and execution; forecast and identify environmental factors expected to impact operations; and provide expertise METOC input in the areas 

of Doctrine, Organization, Training, Material, Leadership, Personnel, and Facilities on behalf of 

the Commanding General of the MLG.

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Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW). The MAW METOC Officer serves as a Special Staff for the 

Commanding General of the MAW and resides within the G-2. The primary mission of the MAW 

METOC Staff is to integrate into operational planning and advise the Commanding General on 

the capabilities and limitations of the METOC personnel and equipment with the MAW. Other 

duties include: prepare and present METOC briefs in support of mission planning and execution; forecast and identify environmental factors expected to impact operations; supervise the 

METOC collection strategy for the Air Wing; man and train TACC METOC personnel; assist 

subordinate commands in knowledge development for all METOC personnel in the Wing; and 

provide expertise METOC input in the areas of Doctrine, Organization, Training, Material, Leadership, Personnel, and Facilities on behalf of the Commanding General of the MAW.

Marine Air Control Group (MACG). The MACG METOC Chief serves as a Special Staff for the 

Commanding Officer of the MACG and resides within the S-3/S-5. The primary mission of the 

MACG METOC Chief is to integrate into operational planning and to advise the Commanding 

Officer on the capabilities and limitations of the METOC personnel and equipment within the 

MACG. Other duties include: assist in the execution and management of all METOC resources; 

coordinate effective methods of providing METOC support for the planning and execution of 

MAGTF operations; analyze and interpret centrally prepared products, alphanumeric data, satellite images, and Doppler radar coverage in order to provide forecast meteorological conditions, 

space weather, climatological and astronomical products, and impacts assessments for all requested operations within the scope of the MACG and its subordinate commands.

Marine Air Control Squadron (MACS)

MACS Weapons and Tactics Training Program (WTTP) The MACS METOC WTTP 

Chief is the subject matter expert to the Commanding Officer of the MACS and resides within 

the WTTP shop. The primary mission of the MACS METOC WTTP Chief is to supervise the 

training progression of MACS METOC personnel in accordance with MCO 3500.14C Aviation 

Training and Readiness Program Manual and NAVMC 3500.38A METOC Training and Readiness manual by continuously monitoring and supervising training input into Marine Sierra Hotel 

Aviation Readiness Program (MSHARP) and all source documentation to accurately portray 

combat readiness of the METOC sections within the MACS MATCDachments (Dets).

MACS Marine Air Traffic Control Detachments (MATCD) The MACS MATCD are where 

the preponderance of METOC personnel resides within the MAW. They also own and maintain 

the largest METOC support asset within the MAGTF; the Meteorological Mobile Facility (Replacement) Next Generation [METMF(R) NEXGEN]. The METMF(R) NEXGEN is deployed to 

support sustained operations ashore and provides METOC personnel with a forward deployed 

data collection asset that is comparable to garrison systems. MACS MATCD METOC personnel 

provide general support to the Aviation Combat Element (ACE), but can be task-organized by 

way of METOC Support Teams (MSTs) to support the other elements of the MAGTF when requested through the chain of command. The duties of the MACS MATCD METOC personnel 

include: acquire, monitor, and analyze METOC data to produce tailored, value added information for supported units; operate all METOC equipment, including satellite receivers, radar, 

and other available environmental sensors and display equipment used as the basis for collecting and forecasting environmental conditions; prepare and disseminate forecasts focused on 

specific missions, locations, and METOC parameters critical to current operations and future 

planning; forecast upper-level winds; provide aviation flight weather briefings in support of aviation missions; and provide WWAs in support of sustained operations ashore to ensure force protection.

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Operational Supporting Establishments

Regional METOC Center (RMC). The Marine Corps’ RMCs provide 24 hour direct (in person) 

and indirect (web, e-mail, and phone) regionalized METOC information, products, and services 

in support of Marine Corps operations and other military operations as may be directed from a 

garrison environment. The RMCs may be used as a reach-back source, but are not taskorganized to provide operational METOC support to forward deployed personnel or to act as 

METOC Production Centers for other-than-garrison operations. RMCs have the secondary mission to coordinate and supervise the training of all METOC forecasters in the MCICOM chain of 

command. As part of the regionalization concept of the RMCs, they are responsible for 24/7 

METOC support for the station they are aboard and after field closure for all other stations within 

their area of responsibility (AOR). Those duties include: collect, evaluate, interpret, and disseminate METOC observations and forecasts; prepare and disseminate WWAs; prepare and brief 

aviation flight weather briefs; forecast upper-level winds; prepare and disseminate yearly astronomical data; provide climatological data upon request; and complete all other METOC request 

for information (RFI) as requested.

Other CONUS Marine Corps Bases and Air Stations. Station METOC support responsibilities 

include: METOC support to base training, tenant units, and transient aircrews; and liaison with 

the RMC to provide a continuous meteorological watch (METWATCH). The RMCs have final 

issuing authority for all terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAF) and weather WWAs for the bases 

and air stations within their respective area of responsibility. Other duties include collect, evaluate, interpret, and disseminate METOC observations; prepare and brief aviation flight weather 

briefs; forecast upper-level winds; prepare and disseminate yearly astronomical data; provide 

climatological data upon request; and complete all other METOC RFIs as requested. Although 

collaboration between the Station METOC subject matter expert and RMC personnel occurs, 

the RMCs have final issuing authority for all terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAF) and WWAs for 

the stations and bases within their respective region. 

Marine Corps Aviation Support. The Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) conducts the complete 

range of air operations in support of the MEF, to include anti-air warfare, offensive air support, 

assault support, aerial reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and control of aircraft and missiles. 

The MAW serves as the principal headquarters for the ACE. Most of the MAGTF’s METOC 

support assets reside within the MAW, specifically at the MACG and its subordinate Marine Air 

Traffic Control Detachments. These assets are organized, structured, and capable of supporting 

a variety of MAGTF and ACE-specific operations as defined by the size, scope, and mission requirements. Dedicated METOC support is available for all MAGTF elements from within the 

MAW/ACE.

Marine Corps Products and Services

METOC Support Capabilities—Meteorological Mobile Facility (Replacement) Next 

Generation [METMF(R)NEXGEN]. The highest level of METOC capability within the 

MAGTF is the METMF(R) NEXGEN. The METMF(R) NEXGEN provides the MAGTF with a 

lightweight, highly mobile, fully integrated FORCENet compliant meteorological system capable 

of sustaining METOC operations in direct or general support of all elements of the MAGTF. It 

provides a METOC capability similar to that found in garrison METOC facilities. METMF(R) 

NEXGEN provisions for all functions of environmental sensing and data ingest, for the efficient 

collation and integration of collected data, and for user-friendly graphic user interfaces (GUIs) 

and software tools necessary for accurate interpretation and value-added production. The 

METMF(R) NEXGEN enables the Marine METOC personnel to effectively turn relevant METOC 

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data into actionable environmental information which in 

turn can facilitate timely operational decision-making. The 

smallest level of METOC capability is the Naval 

Integrated Tactical Environmental System - Variant 

IV (NITES IV). The NITES IV is designed as a scalable, 

flexible, and mobile system for a first in and last out capability. The primary differences between the METMF(R) 

NEXGEN and NITES IV are size, logistics, scalability, mobility, and that the METMF(R) NEXGEN has organic sensing capabilities while the NITES IV sensing capabilities are 

limited. Thus, the NITES IV relies heavily on reach-back 

communications and MFC databases for data and products. The NITES IV provides METOC personnel access to 

METOC data and products which are then analyzed and 

tailored for a specific mission.

Naval Integrated Tactical Environmental System 

(NITES IV). NITES IV is a modular system, used to provide limited METOC support in a stand-alone mode with 

increasing capabilities realized with the addition of SIPRNET/NIPRNET connectivity. The NITES-IV suite consists 

of three laptops. Each laptop is designed to perform a different function, but all three are loaded with the same software and can perform the tasks of the 

others. Mission requirements, network availability, and embarkation space dictate how best to 

employ NITES IV.

Vaisala TacMet Meteorological 

Observation System. Organic to the 

METMF(R) NEXGEN and NITES IV, the 

TacMet is a field deployable, compact weather station for various field operations. Offering 

broad sensor capability, the local 

MAWS201M network system is used to provide weather data to support air operations on 

a temporary or semi-permanent basis. The 

local system enhanced configuration offers 

full aviation support, interfacing with intelligent 

sensors such as ceilometer, present weather 

sensor, and electric field mill. These sensors 

are capable of being deployed up to 150 feet 

away from the systems. A standalone version 

of this sensor is also available to the 

METMF(R) NEXGEN in the form of two (2) Remote Sensor Sub-systems (RSS). The RSS includes meteorological sensors from pre-positioned, remote locations. This portable, scalable 

system comprises a sensor set with wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, air temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation sensors.

Figure 12: Meteorological Mobile Facility 

(Replacement) Next Generation 

[METMF(R)NEXGEN] deployed to Afghanistan

Figure 13: METMF(R) NEXGEN provides critical enabling 

capabilities to collect, process, disseminate and integrate essential elements of information regarding the 

time-sensitive characterization of the physical environment. Official U.S.M.C. photograph.

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U.S. Coast Guard

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is a military, multi-mission maritime service and one of our Nation’s five armed forces. The USCG protects the public, the environment, and the economic interests in the Nation’s ports and waterways, along the coast, on international waters, and in other maritime regions, as required to support national security. The USCG has a long history of 

environmental observations and science support. Support for meteorological operations and 

supporting research is detailed in other sections of this plan.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

Interagency Supporting Research Programs and Projects

National Earth System Prediction Capability (National ESPC), Research 

Partnering Initiative

This initiative is a Navy, Air Force, NOAA, DOE, NASA, and NSF partnership focused on coordinating development and transition to operations of numerical weather technology advances to 

improve joint mission performance. The vision is a national numerical weather prediction (NWP) 

system with interoperable components built on common standards and a common framework 

(the Earth System Modeling Framework), with managed operational ensemble diversity and a 

national global NWP research agenda to accelerate science and technology infusion. The research under National ESPC works to improve and extend forecast skill through coupled systems. The research agenda aims to stimulate inter-agency interactions and collaborations in 

developing systems to improve forecasts at time scales from near-term weather to interseasonal/inter-annual. Current efforts are to couple domains such as atmosphere, ocean, ice, 

land and eventually other ecosystem components. Improvements in predictions in these broader 

domains and timescales will result in better severe weather warnings (hurricanes, tornadoes, 

snowstorms), better cost avoidance for weather sensitive industries (agriculture, transportation, 

utilities, defense), and better informed decision making for industry, defense, and the general 

public.

The precursor to National ESPC, the National Unified Operational Prediction Capability 

(NUOPC), established its Initial Operational Capability in January 2011. This National multimodel global ensemble is exchanged between NOAA, the Navy and the Air Force on a one degree grid for 72 variables out to 16 days. Upgrades to ensemble systems will continue and the 

resolution of the exchanged ensemble members is scheduled to be doubled by the end of 2016 

to one half degree as computing and communications capabilities grow to support this requirement. The partners continue to use and develop multi-model ensemble-based products such as 

the new Wave Watch 3 Ensemble that achieve substantial skill improvements over any single 

model solution.

U.S. Air Force Supporting Research Programs and Projects

Technology Transition Initiatives. The overarching objective of the Air Force meteorological 

and space environmental technology transition program is to give capability designers, operational weather personnel, and weather information users the technology and tools to gain and 

maintain the advantage over a potential adversary. Air Force capability needs in the atmospheric and space environment sciences are articulated in the Initial Capabilities Document for the 

Meteorological and Oceanographic Environment, Capability Review assessments, Air Force 

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Strategic Plans (Strategic Master Plan), legacy Weather Operations Functional Concept and 

Enabling Concepts (Characterize the Environment, Exploit Environmental Information, and NetCentric Operations), and supporting Flight Plans, concept and implementation plans. The Air 

Force also uses cooperative development and testing agreements with other governmental 

agencies and laboratories, as well as with for-profit companies. Both the Air Force Institute of 

Technology and the Naval Postgraduate School offer Air Force and Navy graduate students in 

the atmospheric and space environmental sciences opportunities to research topics of immediate operational interest to U.S. Military Services. 

Air Force Weather-Web-Enabled Service (AFW-WEBS) is a centralized web service providing 

access to environmental information appropriate to all levels of operation and command. The 

program is designed to leverage net-centric capabilities and geospatial display services via 

AFW-WEBS to provide the operational warfighting community a single point of assured access 

to the total Air Force authoritative environmental content from sources across the Air Force. All 

appropriate meteorological information will be serviced in geospatially-enabled formats for direct 

integration into warfighter systems and decision cycles. Consistent environmental characterizations of key mission-impacting weather parameters improved by the forecaster-in-the-loop will 

be used as a common source for both visualized web content and for direct Machin-to-Machine 

services accessed by warfighter systems. Weather personnel as well as operators will employ 

AFW-WEBS to improve the quality, accuracy, and effectiveness of weather support processes.

Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, and mission planning 

systems leverage AFW-WEBS products and services to help more decision makers maintain 

battlespace awareness and use the knowledge gained from this process to plan and execute 

more effective missions.

Cloud Forecasting. In applied meteorological research and development, the Air Force is 

improving cloud forecasting techniques by increasing the resolution, using a new cloud interpretation/typing scheme, integrating available satellite (to include non-traditional meteorological 

satellite) into the cloud analysis, incorporating cloud optical properties, and blending numerical 

weather prediction with forecast cloud advection techniques. The Air Force has transitioned key 

advances in tactical decision aids into operations, permitting improved forecasting of electrooptical system performance and generation of cloud and target scene visualizations for training, 

system development, and mission rehearsal.

Weather Modeling for Air Force and Army Operations. The Air Force transitioned to a

global weather prediction capability with the implementation of their Global Air-Land Weather 

Exploitation Model (GALWEM). Additionally, the Air Force will continue participation in research 

and development activities that bring advanced forecast capabilities in support of Air Force and 

Army operations in collaboration with National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), NOAA’s NCEP, NOAA’s Earth Systems Research Laboratory (ESRL), the University of Oklahoma’s 

Center for the Analysis and Prediction of Storms, and others. The GALWEM is a fully coupled 

model which brings dust and aerosol modeling capabilities. The Land Information System analyzes the current state of the land surface to provide information to DoD and civilian agencies, 

and, through coupling with GALWEM, will improve prediction performance near the surface and 

in the low levels of the atmosphere. This enables Air Force weather personnel to improve characterization of the battlespace/operating environment for missions such as (but not limited to) 

low-level aircraft operations, the dispersion of aerosol contaminants, and the employment of 

precision-guided munitions. It also allows for input to trafficability assessments for ground forces.

In early 2012, the Air Force released the Air Force Weather Ensemble Prediction Suite (AFWEPS) into operations. AFWEPS output, at both the mesoscale and global scale, provides bet2-166
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ter meteorological intelligence for military operations by objectively quantifying the forecast certainty of mission-impacting meteorological parameters to optimize risk management for all echelons of decision making. It provides probabilistic algorithms for high-impact variables and quantifies biases, allowing concise, focused products. 

Research Partnering Initiatives. The Air Force is partnering with the NWS and the Navy in the 

National Earth System Prediction Capability (N'ESPC). This partnership exists to enable a multiagency global atmospheric ensemble forecast system and is an integration of ongoing coordinated efforts. The N'ESPC vision is a National Numerical Weather Prediction system with interoperable components built on common standards and framework (Earth System Modeling 

Framework) with managed operational ensemble diversity and a national global NWP research 

agenda to accelerate science and technology infusion.

U.S. Army Supporting Research Programs and Projects

Army Materiel Command (AMC) 

AMC is responsible for the RDT&E of equipment to satisfy the USA’s requirements for meteorological support. AMC provides meteorological and climatological support to RDT&E projects, 

involving electro-optical sensors and atmospheric and obscurant effects on systems and their 

performance. AMC has several major subordinate commands and elements carrying out weather R&D responsibilities, including the Research Development and Engineering Command, 

which has responsibility for the USA’s Research Development and Engineering Centers and 

ARL.

Battlefield Environment Division, ARL Computational and Information Sciences 

Directorate. The Battlefield Environment Division (BED of the Computational and Information 

Sciences Directorate in the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) conducts basic and applied research in atmospheric science and technology to provide actionable environmental intelligence 

crucial to the success of current and future operations. The research program focuses on: (1) 

measurements, modeling, and theoretical investigations of aerosols, acoustics, electro-optics, 

and adaptive optics to support advances in detection and identification within the battlefield environment; (2) research to understand, measure, model, and predict the dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer and its effects on Army systems and operations; and (3) research necessary to meet the Army’s requirements for detailed atmospheric analyses and very-short-range 

predictions (Nowcasts) over mission-execution battlespace domains in complex terrain areas 

and within urban environments. This mission effort will be carried out through the: (1) development of high-resolution, physics-based, and semi-empirical models for urban and complexterrain meteorology; (2) development of Tactical Decision Aids 

(TDAs) that describe the impacts expected, and the resulting 

performance degradation due to adverse environmental conditions, to include weather and terrain, for both Friendly and 

Threat systems; and (3) development of improved propagation 

and scattering models to be employed in novel techniques that 

can enhance the detection, identification, and localization of 

biological aerosols and acoustic and optical sources, and to 

enable evaluations that will improve the performance of acoustic and electro-optic sensors. ARL has also implemented an 

Atmospheric Science Center (ASC) that will enhance research 

within the laboratory as well as promote cooperative research 

Figure 14: High-resolution meteorological forecasts support a host 

of battlefield operations such as 

first round, fire-for-effect artillery 

shots. (U.S. Army photo)

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with external partners from government, academia, and industry. The following sections outline 

the three main research programs planned within ARL-BED and the ASC for FY17.

Atmospheric Sensing. The objectives of this research program include: (1) experimental and 

theoretical research enabling high-resolution characterization of atmospheric and other environmental conditions that may affect the performance of acoustic and electro-optic systems, and 

the conception of methods to mitigate these effects; (2) development of aerosol, acoustic, and 

electro-optic DSTs that utilize observed or modeled atmospheric parameters to improve Warfighter performance within the battlefield environment; (3) development of theoretical and experimental technologies for the characterization of atmospheric constituents focused on the detection of threat agent aerosols; and (4), development and advancement of environmental remote 

sensing science and technologies to increase knowledge of the battlefield environment and to 

support Army operations.

Atmospheric Modeling. The objectives of this program are to: (1) develop high-resolution, 

physics-based prognostic models and semi-empirical diagnostic models for ultra-fine-scale meteorological forecasts in urban and complex terrain; (2) develop, modify, or adapt data assimilation tools that can ingest on-scene, traditional, and non-traditional weather observations, and 

fuse this information with forecasts to provide analyses and mission-execution Nowcast products for operations and short-term mission planning; (3) design and develop the means to process these models and transfer meteorological data over a distributed network; (4) develop capabilities to use deterministic and ensemble model probabilistic forecast output in weather 

DSTs, and develop new aids to exploit such new databases; and (5) support the Artillery Meteorology community with expertise in meteorological modeling and atmospheric effects on artillery fires and target area meteorology.

Atmospheric Dynamics. The objectives of this effort are to: (1) develop applications to monitor 

and assess airborne hazards in complex terrain; (2) develop theoretical foundations and perform experiments to characterize the fine-scale effects of local terrain on winds, turbulence, and 

vertical fluxes; (3) develop DSTs and associated databases that describe the impacts expected, 

and the resulting performance degradation due to adverse weather conditions for both Friendly 

and Threat systems; (4) assess the accuracy and value-added to the Warfighter of Nowcasts 

and TDAs; and (5) develop propagation models and improved theory for characterizing the atmosphere and the effects of turbulence on emerging sensing applications in previously underexploited spectral regions (including Terahertz) for communications and imaging, short-wave 

infrared active and passive imaging, and near-IR for directed energy systems. As part of the 

Atmospheric Dynamics research efforts, and in support of the modeling and sensing areas, ARL 

has implemented a Meteorological Sensor Array (MSA) within and near White Sands Missile 

Range, NM (WSMR. The MSA will consist of two, thirty-six meteorological tower sensor arrays; 

with other associated instrumentation such as LiDARs, SODARs, etc., situated in complex 

mountain/desert terrain. This test bed will provide a rich source of atmospheric characterization 

data for ARL and other research organizations. 

Atmospheric Sciences Center (ASC). The ASC Brings together government, industry, and 

academia to advance atmospheric science and its application to critical defense technologies 

through a collaborative, innovative research ecosystem. Primary focus is atmospheric boundary 

layer research in complex terrain, both mountainous and urban. The associated MSA is envisioned to not only overcome the US Army’s critical microscale observational shortfall, but also to 

address greater, community-wide needs for high-resolution observational data, state of the art 

decision aids and applications, and the capability to verify and validate complex sensor development.

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ARL Army Research Office. The Army Research Office, Research Triangle Park, North 

Carolina, manages the Army's extramural basic research program in earth sciences. ARO seeks 

to advance understanding of the terrestrial environment by embracing long-term, high risk, highpayoff opportunities for the US Army with special emphasis on Earth Materials and Processes 

and Environmental Chemistry. Research seeks to explore the properties of Earth surface materials and environments to discover how they respond to external forces and their interactions 

with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, especially in the context of chemical species 

affecting human health and the environment. The work is focused on processes occurring at 

spatial and temporal scales relevant to Army operations and land management. Fundamental 

research lays the foundation to support a range of Army needs, including the remote characterization of land surfaces, the trafficability of ground vehicles, and environmental needs such as 

waste management and remediation.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers R&D

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center 

(ERDC) provides integrated research, development, and engineering services to solve the challenging problems in military engineering, geospatial sciences, water resources, and environmental sciences for the Army and Department of Defense (DoD). The ERDC supports Army 

weapon systems RDT&E with all-season solutions for mitigating adverse environmental effects 

on Army operations. Basic and applied research is conducted on energy and mass transfer processes at and near the terrain surface. ERDC develops databases and models for predicting the 

state of the terrain including surface temperature, soil moisture, tactical decision aids, and geospatial tools supporting mobility analysis and sensor performance. Research will transition into 

Tactical Decision Aids (TDAs) within geospatial analysis tools to interpret and assist the Warfighter’s understanding of weather impacts on terrain applicable to Mission Command and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance planning. These products transition to research and 

engineering programs including advanced technology demonstrations and specific programs of 

record.

In FY17, the ERDC will continue research to fuse static and dynamic geo-environmental information for augmenting real-time battlefield situational awareness and mission planning tools 

through the Army Terrestrial-Environmental Modeling and Intelligence System (ARTEMIS) Army 

Science and Technology Objective (STO). ARTEMIS is being executed with support from the 

Army Research Laboratory’s Battlefield Environment Division and FY17 will be the 3rd year of 

execution of this 4 year research program. FY17 planned efforts include: (1) the development of 

sound propagation modeling driven with 3D weather forecast with a validation experiment in 

mountainous and urban terrains; noise backgrounds and clutter models for acoustic, seismic, 

and radio frequency (RF) propagation models; and complete acoustic and RF sensor directivity 

models (e.g. antennas and beam formers); (2) complete evaluation of the Air Force Web Services Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) data feed capability into ARC GIS terrain analysis 

tools; (3) develop ability to link real-time soil moisture from Air Force Web Services to a web 

based soil moisture and strength 30 meter downscaling capability; and (4) conduct research to 

improve the understanding of linkages between extreme weather events and human terrain in 

areas of strategic importance.

Army Test and Evaluation Command 

ATEC is responsible for providing operational meteorological support to Army RDT&E. Under 

responsibilities established in AR 115-10/AFJI 15-157, ATEC meteorological units provide me2-169
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

teorological data collection and analysis, consultation, and weather forecast and warning services to support Army and other DOD RDT&E activities at seven ATEC ranges.

Enhancements to ATEC Four-Dimensional Weather System. The ATEC Meteorology 

Program is continuing to collaborate with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) 

on enhancements to the ATEC Four-Dimensional Weather (4DWX) system, which is the backbone of the meteorological support infrastructure at the Army test ranges. ATEC 4DWX modeling capabilities include Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model based real-time fourdimensional data assimilation at the test ranges. It also provides Global Meteorology on Demand, a globally relocatable mesoscale modeling system to support Army RDT&E (including 

ATEC distributed and virtual testing) at locations other than the Army ranges. Output from the 

4DWX mesoscale model forecasts and analyses is used as meteorological input to atmospheric 

dispersion, noise propagation, ballistic trajectory, and other range applications models to simulate many tests and their associated impacts. The 4DWX system contributes to improved test 

planning and conduct, selection of more representative locations for test sensors, inclusion of 

realistic atmospheric effects in virtual testing, and forensic analyses of meteorological effects on 

test results.

4DWX system enhancements during FY16 will include: Continued WRF and data assimilation 

development focused on forecasting improvements at each range, in addition to advances 

which apply generally to all WRF applications; improved lightning potential prediction; development of range climatologies; continued development of Very Large Eddy Simulation capabilities; 

continued development of an on-line automated real-time quality control for observations; and 

continued enhancements to the AutoNowcaster implementations at Redstone Test Center and 

at White Sands Missile Range. ATEC is also assessing the feasibility of operating the base 

4DWX model on the High Performance Computing Modernization Office (HPCMO) managed 

high performance computer systems located at Stennis Space Center and Army Research Laboratory.

U.S. Navy Supporting Research Programs and Projects

Earth System Prediction Capabilities. The Navy’s Earth System Prediction Capability 

(ESPC) program will provide a more accurate, longer range, global ocean, atmosphere, and sea 

ice forecast system for decision support to safety of flight, safety of navigation, sensor and 

weapon performance, and mission planning, mitigation and effectiveness decisions. 

Development of global coupled ensemble technologies will provide increased accuracy for lead 

times of 1-10 days as well as a new capability for accurate forecasts from the Tropics to the Arctic at tactical, operational, and strategic lead times. It will develop a Navy interface to NOAA’s 

products for seasonal to multi-annual lead times for deliberate planning through integrating atmosphere, ocean, ice, land and near-space forecast models into a seamless prediction system. 

This effort is the Navy contribution to a National ESPC for improved cross-Agency Research to 

Operations collaboration, and the development of more accurate forecast systems and more 

efficient computational architectures to allow for improved real-time operational prediction.

ESPC will deliver the next generation environmental prediction capability. Technologies that 

fully couple atmosphere-sea-wave-ice-land interface physical processes in numerical modeling 

will provide the fleet with the ability to characterize the global battlespace environment from the 

deep ocean through near-space regimes, on time scales ranging from hours to 90-days. Model 

ensemble techniques and coupled model architectures being developed in collaboration with 

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Interagency partners will enable informed decision making across multiple time scales from tactical to strategic and all projected operational environments.

Research and Development challenges for the ESPC program of record include:

• Extending our predictive capability from minutes to months through a better understanding 

and operational representation of the earth system.

• Modeling the complex interaction between the oceans/lakes, atmosphere, land, ice and 

ecosystems. 

• Using through-the-sensor, tactical and remotely sensed environmental observations to improve predictions of the physical, electro-magnetic, electro-optical and cyber environments.

• Linking improved environmental prediction skill to BonD Tier/2/3 Decision products for Maneuver Warfare, Energy Efficiency, Safety of Flight and Navigation, and sensor/weapon performance for effective Naval operations. 

Additional information is available at the ESPC website at: www.espc.oar.noaa.gov/

Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare (EMW) Under the mission pillar of Assured Command and 

Control, in direct support to EMW, the Navy is engaged in improving Electro-Magnetic 

(EM)/Electro-Optic (EO)/Electronic Warfare (EW) Spectrum Management, especially in AntiAccess/Area-Denial (A2/AD) environments by improving exploitation opportunities across current and emerging fleet sensor systems. The NOe under COMNAVOCEANCOM direction, has 

partnered with Program Manager Ships (PMS 405) in coordinating atmospheric and oceanographic efforts for Solid State Laser (SSL) Technology Maturation (TM) and Quick Reaction Capability (QRC). An Integrated Product Team (IPT) is charged with providing 24/7 atmospheric 

characterization and performance prediction for SSL operations at any maritime location of Navy interest. Current focus is on modeling and measurements, needed in developing vertical 

temperature/moisture and turbulence profiles. CNMOC is the Navy authoritative source for what 

atmospheric models to tap into and FNMOC is the Navy’s lead atmospheric modeling center.

Other participants include ONR 34, NRL, and COMNAVSPAWARSYSCOM. Tech Solutions is a 

SPAWAR-led R&D effort for a weather sensing system onboard naval surface ships called Automated Shipboard Weather Observation System (ASO). The design of a variety of laser systems, for example, the Modular Universal Laser Equipment (MULE), has used the R&D turbulence models to optimize systems for operation in the atmospheric environment expected in different operational theaters.

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

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SPACE WEATHER SERVICES 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Space Weather Services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the needs of users for information on space 

weather conditions and space weather storms that can affect terrestrial systems, space systems, Earth’s atmosphere, and the space environment. Space weather services include 

monitoring and alerting of space weather storms and their effects on technological infrastructure and human safety. Early warning of an approaching space weather storm, so that timely 

protective response is possible, is an important part of space weather services.

Figure 1: Space Weather Prediction 

Center illustration.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

NOAA/National Weather Service

Space Weather Prediction Center

The National Centers for Environmental Prediction’s (NCEP) Space Weather Prediction Center 

(SWPC), within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National 

Weather Service (NWS), is the Nation’s official source of space weather alerts, watches and 

warnings for conditions in the space environment that impact systems and technologies that are 

vulnerable to space weather. SWPC provides real-time monitoring and forecasting of space weather events, conducts 

research in solar-terrestrial physics, and develops techniques for forecasting space weather storms. These services are provided to promote public safety and mitigate 

economic loss that could result from disruption of critical 

systems such as satellite operations, communications and 

navigation systems, and electric power distribution grids. 

SWPC operates the national civilian Space Weather Forecast Office, coordinating with Air Force’s 557th Weather 

Wing personnel at Offutt Air Force base in the production of 

joint products, ensuring a consistent message on the space 

weather forecast across both civilian and Department of Defense (DOD) customer bases. The SWPC provides services 

to customers on a 24 hour-per-day, seven day-per-week basis. SWPC products and services include observations and 

forecasts of solar, interplanetary, geospace, ionosphere and 

thermosphere conditions that impact technologies on Earth 

and in space. The SWPC also develops and evaluates new 

models and products and transitions them into operations. 

The SWPC takes a leading role in advocating and specifying 

new space-environment sensors for operational use.

The SWPC provides services to a broad user community of 

government agencies including Department of Defense, Na-
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Homeland Security, Department of 

Energy, and Department of Transportation. The SWPC provides support to industries, public 

institutions, and private individuals including the electric power industry, the airline industry, the 

satellite industry, oil exploration, agriculture, and many users of high frequency communication 

and satellite navigation. The SWPC also serves as the primary international World Warning 

Agency for the International Space Environment Service. The SWPC shares data with international partners (solar wind, magnetic fields, X-ray, sunspot, energetic particles, and ionospheric 

measurements) in real-time and issues a consensus set of daily forecasts for international use.

U.S. Air Force

The mission of Air Force weather organizations is to enable DoD decision-makers to anticipate 

and exploit the weather for air, ground, space, cyberspace, and intelligence operations. As this 

applies to the ‘Space Weather Services’ category, Air Force weather personnel provide space 

environmental information, products, and services required to support Department of Defense 

(DoD) operations as required, providing actionable environmental impacts information directly to 

decision makers.

Personnel supporting space weather operations apply a detailed understanding of the space 

environment to translate raw data into useful military intelligence information, which can be integrated into the Common Operating Picture. Weather personnel monitor the sun’s emissions and 

provide mission-tailored analyses, forecasts, and warnings. Their products are used for mission 

planning and environmental situational awareness by national agencies, DoD operators, warfighters, and decision makers. Solar emission of highly-energetic particles, X-rays, and radio 

bursts can produce the following effects on DoD operations:

• Electrical anomalies and degrading of components to satellites and other equipment in orbit 

above the protective levels of the atmosphere.

• Impacts on electromagnetic signals influencing 

High Frequency (HF) communication, Ultra High Frequency (UHF) communication, and Global Positioning 

System (GPS) satellite navigation signals.

• Increased drag on satellites in low-earth orbit.

• Increased interference 

or false returns to sunward 

or poleward looking radars.

• Potential health impact 

of radiation exposure to 

high-altitude aviators and 

those flying over polar regions.

Space environmental information is obtained 

through a combination of 

ground- and space-based 

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Figure 2: Continuous Monitoring of Solar Emissions and Space Weather 

Products.
Space Weather Services

systems. For the near-earth environment, e.g. ionosphere, ground-based and space-based systems complement each other to provide highly accurate point source verification and specification and enable global coverage and theater-wide situational awareness. For the solar environment, ground-based systems provide reliable observations of the sun in optical and radio frequencies, and space-based observations provide information (or data) unobtainable from the 

ground. Space-based systems provide in situ measurements of the space environment; i.e., solar wind and magnetosphere.

Space Weather observations includes Air Force operation of the Solar Electro-optical Observing 

Network (SEON), a network of ground-based observing sites located around the globe providing 

24-hour coverage of solar phenomena at optical and/or radio wavelengths.

The SEON network sites utilize the Radio Solar Telescope Network (RSTN) and/or the Solar 

Observing Optical Network (SOON). The RSTN is composed of instruments that observe radio 

emissions from the sun and is used to monitor for solar radio bursts at eight specific frequencies 

as well as a spectral band. The SOON is used to monitor solar flare activity, which are sometimes the precursor to coronal mass ejections that may interact with the earth’s magnetic field to 

create geomagnetic storms. The SOON images the sun in the hydrogen-alpha wavelength, 

which reveals the complex solar activity in the lower atmosphere or chromosphere, as well as 

imaging the sun in the continuum (white light), which shows sunspots on the sun’s surface, or 

photosphere. The SOON also enables the production of magnetic maps of the sun using a 

Zeeman splitting technique. When solar emissions are observed over threshold levels, solar analysts transmit activity messages that are used to prepare mission-tailored analyses, forecasts, 

and warnings used for mission planning, mission execution, and environmental situational 

awareness.

The Air Force employs a worldwide network of ground-based ionosondes and other sensors to 

provide environmental data in the ionosphere. It manages the NEXt-generation IONosonde 

(NEXION) sites worldwide. The Air Force is also in the process of fielding a network of Ionospheric Scintillation and Total Electron Content (TEC) Observatories (ISTO). These sites will 

characterize attenuation of SATCOM and GPS radio signals in the global equatorial regions.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory operates a complementary global network of sensors, deriving ionospheric line-of-sight total electron content from GPS signals, and provides these data to 

the Air Force. Additional data 

are provided by the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS), 

which operates a network of 

ground-based magnetometers, primarily in North America, that provide the Air Force 

with critical measurements of 

the earth’s geomagnetic field 

and its variances. 

From space, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program 

(DMSP) Special Sensor Precipitating Electron and Ion 

Spectrometer measures lowenergy precipitating electrons 

that cause the aurora. The 

DMSP Special Sensors-Ions, Figure 3: Solar optical and radio telescopes at Learmonth, Australia. 

Source: U.S. Air Force.

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

Electrons, and Scintillation sensor provides top-side, in-situ measurements of the ionospheric 

environment, complementing ground-based sensors. These data are used to assess the impact 

of ionospheric conditions on ballistic-missile early warning radar systems and long-range communications. Additionally, the data are used to monitor global auroral activity and to predict the 

effects of the space environment on satellite operations. The Solar X-Ray Imager aboard NOAA’s GOES-15 satellite monitors solar X-ray emissions and provides near real-time display for 

the Air Force and NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. The Air Force also leverages 

space-based data from NASA and other agencies.

Air Force organizations will continue to provide DoD and the Intelligence Community with critical 

space weather products, to support the increased potential of operating in a contested space 

environment and the potential impact of space weather events on international security and infrastructure.

U.S. Geological Survey 

The Geomagnetism Program (http://geomag.usgs.gov) of the USGS Geologic Hazards Science 

Center provides real-time, ground-based measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field, which are 

an important contribution to the diagnosis of conditions in the near-Earth space environment of 

the Sun, the solar wind, the magnetosphere, the ionosphere, and the thermosphere. During geomagnetic storms, brought about by the complex interaction of the Earth’s magnetic field with 

that of the Sun’s, both high- and low-frequency radio communications can be difficult or impossible, global positioning systems (GPS) can be degraded, satellite electronics can be damaged, 

satellite drag can be increased, and astronauts and high-altitude pilots can be subjected to enhanced levels of radiation.

Ground-based geomagnetic observatory data are complementary to those collected by spacebased satellites; indeed, most of the hazardous effects on technological systems brought about 

by magnetic storms occur at or near the Earth’s surface. The Geomagnetism Program monitors 

ground-level magnetic activity by operating 14 magnetic observatories in the United States and 

its territories. Data from these observatories are transmitted to the Program’s headquarters in 

Golden, CO in near-real time. USGS and foreign observatory data streams are used to calculate 

storm-time disturbance indices, such as the magnetospheric ring-current index Dst, which 

serves as a standard proxy measure of magnetic storm intensity and is an important input to 

numerous operational physics-based models of the magnetospheric-ionospheric system. Data 

and storm-time disturbance indices are transmitted to SWPC, U.S. Air Force, and NASA in real 

time. In addition, USGS data are utilized by private industry, foreign space weather agencies, 

and academia.

USGS observatories are operated in cooperation with INTERMAGNET

(http://www.intermagnet.org), an international consortium that coordinates the operation of over 

120 geomagnetic observatories in 40 different countries; the role of INTERMAGNET was recently summarized in an article in the EOS newsletter, which is published by the American Geophysical Union. In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey began a novel public-private cooperative 

relationship with the oil and gas drilling industry to operate a magnetic observatory in Alaska. 

The USGS Geomagnetism Program is an integral part of the National Space Weather Program 

(NSWP).

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Space Weather Services

Federal Emergency Management Agency

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has participated in the development of 

the National Space Weather Strategy (NSWS) and it’s supporting Space Weather Action Plan 

(SWAP). Specifically, FEMA took the lead in developing Goal #2: Enhance Response and Recovery Capabilities alongside partner agencies including: DOE, DHS, NOAA and others. Additionally, FEMA participated in the development of the remaining goals. FEMA will continue to 

coordinate with NOAA-SWPC, NASA, DHS and other agencies to better understand the forecasting, observation, and impact analysis of space weather events.

FEMA continues to work across the Federal interagency to develop partnerships to increase 

preparedness against space weather threats. Along with the Department of Energy, FEMA has 

led the development of the Power Outage Incident Annex (POIA) to the Response and Recovery Federal Interagency Operations Plans (FIOP) to prepare for one of the primary threats from 

an extreme space weather event. While still under development, this plan will address the Federal government’s roles and responsibilities during a large-scale, widespread power outage. In 

addition, to increase awareness of space weather across the Whole Community, FEMA maintains a space weather section on the Ready.gov website (http://www.ready.gov/space-weather).

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

Interagency Collaborative Programs

The Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation (SWORM) task force, an interagency 

group organized under the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Environment, 

Natural Resources, and Sustainability (CENRS), Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction (SDR), 

was chartered in November 2014 to develop a national strategy and a national action plan to 

enhance national preparedness for space-weather events. With representatives from over 20 

Departments and Agencies, the Assistant Administrator of NWS/NOAA serves as one of the CoChairs.

NOAA/National Weather Service

Space Weather Prediction Testbed

The SWPC operates the Space Weather Prediction Testbed (SWPT) to provide the operational 

Space Weather Forecast Office with new models, products, and forecast techniques. The 

SWPT provides research and development support for SWPC including model development 

and transition. The SWPT also validates and verifies new research results from the broader research community and works to develop and transition research models into operational products and services. Through these activities the SWPT achieves its principal objective of infusing 

the benefits of new research and technology into operational space weather products and services, in order to improve the utility and capabilities of the SWPC alerts, watches, warnings, and 

forecasts for its customers.

SWPT Activities include:

• Maintaining awareness of scientific advances and new techniques being developed to identify improved data-analysis techniques, forecast models and observational systems that 

have potential for significantly improving the forecast guidance provided by space weather 

forecasters;

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• Conducting, supporting and managing focused research on data-analysis techniques/ algorithms, forecast models and observational systems that have the potential to significantly 

improve the forecast guidance provided to space weather customers;

• Developing, testing, validating and verifying promising numerical codes and forecast techniques, emerging from the research community to determine their potential benefits for possible use in operations;

• Communicating the needs and requirements of the SWPC Forecast Center with stakeholders (operational, research, academic, international, and commercial) and to help the Nation 

establish space weather research priorities and improve space weather analysis and forecasting;

Current projects at the SWPT include the following:

• Improvements in the one-to-four day forecasts of space weather storms by improving the 

definition and parameterization of coronal mass ejections for input into operational solarheliospheric models that forecast the propagation of solar disturbances through interplanetary space from the Sun to the Earth.

• Improving services to the electric power industry by implementing a geospace/magnetosphere model so that SWPC can provide customers with regional forecasts 

and specifications of space weather impacts on Earth.

• Improving estimates of auroral impacts by the development and transition of a three -day 

auroral forecast model that will provide estimates of where and how intense the aurora will 

be. These forecasts will be used in other space weather models as well as by the general 

public interested in observing aurora.

• Improving services to Global Positioning System /Global Navigation Satellite System 

(GPS/GNSS) customers by the development of the Integrated Dynamics of Earth’s Atmosphere (IDEA) model which combines the Whole Atmosphere Model (extended NWS/GFS 

model) and the Ionosphere Plasmasphere Electrodynmics model. This coupled modeling 

systems will provided multi-day forecasts of the conditions that lead to ionospheric scintillation and the disruption of the GPS and GNSS signals.

U.S. Air Force

Air Force Research Laboratory

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) supports the Air Force space weather mission by 

executing research conducted by external agencies and by conducting in-house research on 

space weather. In space weather research, AFRL programs focus on ionospheric impacts to 

radio frequency systems, charged particle specification and forecasts, solar disturbance prediction, and neutral density effects on low-earth orbiting spacecraft. AFRL supports the development and upgrading of operational space weather sensors, models, and software products, including state-of-the-art ground-based scintillation detectors, total electron content sensors, ionospheric characterization, solar radio and optical emissions observing.

U.S. Geological Survey

The USGS Geomagnetism Program pursues scientific research for purposes of fundamental 

understanding of geomagnetic hazards, and developing products and services needed for related hazard assessment and monitoring. This work is consistent with priorities established in the 

strategic plans of the USGS Natural Hazards Mission Area (Goals 2 and 4, 2012), the Sub2-178
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committee for Disaster Reduction (SDR, Grand Challenges 1 and 2, 2010), the National Space 

Weather Strategy and Space Weather Operations, Research, and Mitigation (SWORM) task 

force (2015) and the National Space Weather Action Plan (Goals 1, 5, and 6, 2015). 

USGS Geomagnetism Program research contributes to the broad understanding of the Earth 

and its surrounding geospace. At the same time, Program research is targeted for societal relevance, especially for ground-level hazards associated with variable space-weather conditions. 

Program scientists analyze geomagnetic data, often in conjunction with other types of data,

such as solar-wind data collected by satellites or geoelectric data collected during magnetotelluric surveys. Some Program research projects are phenomenological and inferential in nature, 

involving statistical and time-series analysis methods. Other projects involve comparisons of 

geomagnetic data and physics-based deterministic models. Specific projects include analysis of 

extreme magnetic-storm events, estimation of lithospheric and deep-Earth electrical conductivity, induction of geoelectric fields in complex lithospheric conductivity, and magnetosphericionospheric model prediction of ground-level geomagnetic disturbance.

Program research leads to the development of products and services needed for assessments 

and real-time situational awareness of geomagnetic hazards, and it informs the operation of the 

observatory network. Specific development work includes calculation of magnetic activity indices and mapping of geomagnetic disturbance. Work in support of operations includes the evaluation of data quality, averaging, and bias. Program research staff provide expert scientific advice, national and international leadership, and write research and educational articles about 

geomagnetism and associated hazards.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The objective of the Heliophysics Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is to understand the Sun and its interactions 

with Earth and the solar system, including space weather. The three areas of concentration are 

theory development, data collection and analysis, and modeling of the resulting scientific understanding. To support this effort, the division operates a fleet of 18 missions involving 28 spacecraft. The region of space that must be covered is huge, extending from the Sun through the 

Earth’s near-space environment and outward to the edges of the solar system.

To meet national and societal needs, NASA coordinates its space weather activities with several 

interagency and international partners, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is responsible for delivering operational space weather products and 

services to the nation. Currently, five NASA research missions provide data that have become 

essential to our nation’s space weather protection community. This is done by either direct 

broadcast from the satellite to a network of NASA and non-NASA receiving antennae, or by data 

that is processed in near real-time and made accessible via the internet. The Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft provides data on the condition of the solar wind upstream of 

the Earth’s magnetic field. Additional space weather information is provided by the two Solar 

Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft which broadcast beacon images of the 

far side of the Sun; as well as coronal mass ejection alerts from the European Space Agency 

(ESA)/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and super high-resolution images 

from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Also, the two Van Allen Probes provide near-realtime information on the conditions in the Earth’s radiation belts.

NASA also supports the development of space weather technology and predictive capability 

with its Research Program and the Living with a Star Science Program. With the Research Program’s instrument development funding, NASA is developing the next generation of instruments 

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that will be capable of observing extreme space weather conditions. NASA works to continually 

improve the understanding of space weather that enables improvements to space weather prediction models. Also, within the Research Program, as a quality assurance activity to validate 

solar and space physics research models and to prepare them for transition into operational activities, NASA operates a Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC), an interagency 

collaborative activity involving the National Science Foundation (NSF), NOAA, and the DoD.

Department of Energy

The U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) supports 

the NSWP through the collection and distribution of operational data, through participation in 

research missions with space weather applications, and through the development of space 

weather models such as DREAM and AE/AP-9. One of the most significant contributions is the 

collection and distribution of space weather data from DOE/NNSA instruments on U.S. government satellites in geosynchronous and GPS orbits. DOE/NNSA geosynchronous observations 

have been available continuously since 1979 and, since 1989, measurements span energies 

from a few electron volts (eV) to tens of MeV. Geosynchronous observations are also available 

in real time from multiple satellites which constitutes an important resource for driving real-time 

specification and forecast models.

DOE/NNSA space weather resources on GPS satellites include both particle measurements for 

the space radiation environment and impulsive RF measurements that provide important information on ionospheric structure and density with global coverage (24 satellites). GPS observations cover the time period from 1983 to present so, as with other geosynchronous measurements, they provide an important resource for space weather climate models and for validation 

and testing of specification and forecast models.

DOE/NNSA, through the national laboratories, has also provided important space weather capabilities through the construction and operation of scientific instruments that also provide important space weather information. These include the plasma spectrometer on ACE (L1 solar 

wind), particle detectors on RBSP (ring current, radiation belts, solar particles), Forté (ionospheric structure and density), and others. DOE/NNSA has also supported the development of 

space weather models. These include the next-generation climatology model (AE/AP-9) for 

spacecraft design and the DREAM model which is a real-time assimilative model for the radiation belts. Both models rely heavily on geosynchronous and GPS observations. A third is RAMSCB which is a model of the ring current. DOE/NNSA strives to partner with other entities with 

space weather interests and is exploring new ways in which its data, models, and space weather services can be more fully utilized to support the national space weather enterprise.

National Science Foundation 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports the National Space Weather Strategy and National Space Weather Action Plan in pursuing the program’s objective to perform the research 

and technology transfer needed to improve the specification and forecasts of space weather 

events that can cause disruption and failure of space-borne and ground-based technological 

systems and that can endanger human health. Space Weather is now a dedicated program at 

NSF, and is joined by several cross-cutting programs (CEDAR/GEM/SHINE) and support for 

NCAR’s High Altitude Observatory. Space weather relevant research efforts include the development of large-scale space weather forecast models, construction and operation of advanced 

ground-based instruments and networks for the observation of space weather parameters, and 

the development and demonstration of innovative and creative small space weather satellites.

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SURFACE TRANSPORTATION 

SERVICES 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Surface Transportation Services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the weather information needs of the following surface transportation sectors: roadways, long-haul railways, the marine transportation system, rural and urban transit, pipeline systems, and airport ground operations. The roadway sector includes State and Federal highways and all State and local roads and streets. The marine 

transportation system includes coastal and inland waterways, ports and harbors, and the intermodal terminals serving them. Rural and urban transit includes bus and van service on roadways and rail lines for metropolitan subway and surface “light-rail” systems. Operational and 

supporting research programs for Aviation Services are often also relevant to airport ground operations, but program budgets counted in Aviation Services are not double-counted here under 

airport ground operations, and vice versa.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS)

National Weather Service’s (NWS) Marine Program is the lead for the Nation’s marine and 

coastal weather services, encompassing a vast area from coastal waterways and near-shore 

bays and inlets to the open oceans spanning much of the northern and western hemispheres, 

as well as portions of the eastern hemisphere in the Pacific Basin. The program is aimed at ensuring safe and efficient transportation, fishing, recreation and offshore mineral exploration, in 

support of both commercial and recreational interests, and with consideration of the expanding 

and weather-sensitive U.S. coastal population. Forty-seven coastal Weather Forecast Offices 

(WFOs), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and the Ocean Prediction Center (OPC) provide 

forecasts, analyses, watches, warnings and advisories of maritime conditions as well as coastal 

and tropical hazards. These services are provided for coastal waters, offshore and high seas 

waters, and Great Lakes near-shore and open lake waters. Coastal WFOs have responsibility 

for forecasts and warnings extending up to 60 nautical miles from the shore. NHC and OPC are 

responsible for offshore and high seas waters, meeting U.S. obligations to maritime weather 

safety under the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea, to which the United States is 

a signatory.

Using observational data sources such as buoys and satellites, ship reports through the Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) program, and numerical model guidance, NWS forecasters monitor 

weather conditions continuously over their responsible maritime domain. They produce and disseminate routine forecast products and analyses, watches, warnings, and advisories which describe maritime weather, sea ice and oceanographic conditions including tropical storms and 

coastal storm hazards. NWS coastal marine warning and forecast products describe wind, 

waves, visibility, icing, storm surge, coastal flooding, severe weather, high surf and rip currents. 
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

NWS tropical storm products describe track and intensity as well as associated coastal hazards 

such as storm surge, waves, and inland impacts.

The Marine Program collaborates with a wide range of partners within and outside of NOAA. 

The program relies on the NWS Office of Observations and NOAA’s National Environmental 

Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) for the collection of marine and coastal observations and the delivery of marine and coastal products to users. Through the joint National 

Ice Center, the Program collaborates with NESDIS, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard 

(USCG) to provide ice warning and advisory services. It supports the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast 

Guard, the U.S. Maritime Administration, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to 

operate the Nation’s Marine Transportation System safely. It collaborates with the Department 

of Defense, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and USACE to provide tropical cyclone warning and forecast services; with the 

USCG, U.S. Navy, Air Force, and private entities to disseminate weather information to mariners. The Marine Program also collaborates with NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, 

DOD, USCG and DHS to support emergency responses to maritime incidences such as hazardous material spills; maritime domain search, rescue, and recovery operations; and to maintain maritime domain situational awareness.

The Marine Program supports NOAA’s National Ocean Service (NOS) on the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS) and Tides programs; and through the World Meteorological Organization to coordinate maritime weather and ice safety services with national meteorological and hydrological services world-wide for consistent and seamless services that cover 

world oceans.

The NWS and Federal Highway Administration are working together to improve the incorporation of weather information by state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in their decision 

making for high impact weather events. Currently, the NWS provides weather information 

through a variety of dissemination mechanisms used by some state DOTs for the purpose of 

ensuring motorist safety, and for protecting life and property. This includes coordination on forecasts and wording of variable message signs along roadways, engagement with state DOTs on 

2-way NWSChat and evaluation of road models based on NWS grids. NWS provides direct decision support to some state DOTs in certain non-routine situations, from real-time to seasonal 

events, which threaten public safety or can cripple road and bridge infrastructure. Support has 

been provided outside of standard products for fires (particulates and winds), dense fog, dust 

storms, hazardous material incidents/spills, coastal and inland flooding (flash flood, probabilistic 

river forecasts, precipitation frequency Atlas and runoff), and dangerous winter conditions (black 

ice, snow accumulation, melt related flooding) or tropical storms. Direct support includes singleslide Impact-based Decision Support Services graphics prepared for specific DOTs and experimental local graphical travel pages. State DOTs have also captured NWS graphics for redisplay 

directly on their public websites or internal web pages for each mile marker as well as for content in their 5-1-1 Travel Information Systems. To improve readiness, NWS provides seasonal 

training workshops and site visits with state departments of transportation.

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Surface Transportation Services

NOAA/National Ocean Service 

Marine Transportation System Services

The National Ocean Service (NOS) is the primary civil agency 

within the federal government responsible for the health and 

safety of our nation's coastal and oceanic environment. 

Largely through the Center for Operational Oceanographic 

Products and Services (CO-OPS) program line 

(http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/), NOS acquires water levels, currents, and other physical oceanographic and meteorological data and distributes these data and circulation predictions as elements of an integrated NOS program. This program provides a comprehensive science-based suite of information required by the marine transportation community to 

ensure safe and efficient transportation, including the 

transport of hazardous materials. NOS also provides coastal 

oceanographic and meteorological products required by the 

NWS to meet its short-term weather and forecasting responsibilities, including tsunami and storm surge warnings. NOS 

manages several observing systems and programs; however, 

four in particular are heavily linked to the capability of NOAA 

to meet the marine transportation needs of the nation. The 

following stations were installed to help meet this need. The 

new air gap sensor in Savannah, GA (Figure 2.) provides 

bridge clearance information so large ships can pass under 

the Ravenel Bridge with confidence. The new meteorological 

station in Key West (Figure 1.) will assist the NWS with 

weather forecasting in the region by providing valuable coastal 

observations.

National Water Level Observation Network (NWLON).

NOS manages the NWLON, which officially consists of 210 

stations located along the coasts of the United States and the 

Great Lakes, from which water level data as well as other 

oceanographic and meteorological data are collected and disseminated. NWLON provides data and supporting information 

to a number of NOAA and other federal programs, such as the 

NOS Nautical Charting Program, NOS Shoreline Mapping 

Program, NWS Tsunami Warning System, NWS storm surge 

warning/forecast activities, and the Climate Services Program. 

Approximately 182 of the 210 NWLON stations contain at 

least one meteorological sensor (an anemometer, a barometer, an air temperature sensor and at some Great Lakes stations a relative humidity sensor), and 150 stations are outfitted 

with a full suite, which includes dual anemometers, a barometer and an air temperature sensor. Water level and meteorological data are automatically formatted into SHEF bulletin format for inclusion into the NOAA AWIPS system. For more information, see http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/nwlon.html. 

Figure 2: This image is a new air 

gap station installed on the Ravenel

Bridge in Savannah, GA.

Figure 1: This image is a new meteorological station at Key West, FL 

on top of the NOAA Sanctuaries 

building on the southwest corner of 

the island.

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Physical Oceanographic Real-Time 

System (PORTS®). PORTS® is a decision 

support tool which improves the safety and efficiency of maritime commerce and coastal resource management through the integration of 

real-time environmental observations, forecasts, 

and other geospatial information. PORTS®

measures and disseminates observations and 

predictions of water levels, currents, salinity, 

waves, bridge air gap and many meteorological 

parameters, needed and requested by the mariner to navigate safely. There are 29 existing 

PORTS® systems that comprise a total of 88 

PORTS® water level stations. Currently, 72 of 

these stations contain at least one meteorological sensor (anemometer, barometer, air temperature sensor or a visibility sensor). In FY16, four 

new PORTS® were added to the network in 

Matagorda, TX, Savannah, GA, Cayahoga River, OH, and Cape Cod, MA. In FY17, two new 

PORTS® are planned in Port Everglades and 

Miami, FL. 

The PORTS® systems come in a variety of sizes 

and configurations, each specifically designed to 

meet local user requirements. PORTS® is a 

partnership program in which local operating 

partners fund the installation and operation of the measurement systems. The largest of NOS' 

existing installations is composed of over 100 separate instruments. The smallest consists of a 

single water level gauge and associated oceanographic instruments. Regardless of its size, 

each PORTS® installation provides information that allows shippers and port operators to maximize port throughput while maintaining an adequate margin of safety for the increasingly large 

vessels visiting United States ports. In addition, prevention of maritime accidents is the most 

cost effective measure that can be taken to protect fragile coastal ecosystems. One major oil 

spill can cost billions of dollars and destroy sensitive marine habitats critical to supporting 

coastal marine ecosystems. PORTS® provides information to make navigation safer, thus reducing the likelihood of a maritime accident, and also provides the information necessary to mitigate 

the damages from a spill, should one occur. An extensible PORTS® can be integrated with other 

marine transportation technologies such as the Coast Guard’s Automated Identification System 

AIS, Electronic Chart Display Information Systems ECDIS, and Vessel Traffic Systems VTS. 

Visibility sensors are the most recent sensor type to be integrated into the PORTS® systems, 

and there are currently two visibility stations installed in Mobile Bay PORTS®, three in the San 

Francisco PORTS®, three in Jacksonville PORTS®, two in Narragansett PORTS® and one in the 

northern Chesapeake Bay PORTS®. More visibility installations are planned for Narragansett 

Bay and Chesapeake Bay PORTS® in FY16/17. For more information see 

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/ports.html.

National Operational Coastal Modeling Program (NOCMP). NOCMP serves a variety 

of users with oceanographic nowcast and forecast products for ports, estuaries and the Great 

Lakes. The integration of PORTS® technology and numerical circulation models allows nowcasts and forecasts of up to five parameters (water level, current speed and direction, winds, 

Figure 3: New water level comparison, the old 

acoustic technology verses the new microwave 

technology. The microwave system has no components in the water making it cheaper to maintain.
Surface Transportation Services

water temperature and salinity) within the boundaries of the thirteen models at locations where 

physical measurements are not available. In FY16 modelers completed a model upgrade in 

Lake Erie. This new upgrade utilizes a new model engine, higher grid area coverage and forecasts out to 120 hours. In FY17 NOS hopes to establish a new model in the Gulf of Maine. Ongoing developments will enable the operational forecast systems to incorporate ecological forecast models and integrate the output with circulation measurements to provide information on 

transports of materials in the ecosystem essential for effective marine resource management 

and homeland security. Model information is automatically formatted into SHEF bulletin format 

for inclusion into the NOAA AWIPS system. For more information see 

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/nocmp.html. 

The NOS Continuous Real-Time Monitoring System (CORMS). CORMS was designed 

to operate on a 24 x 7 basis to ensure the accuracy and working status of oceanographic and 

meteorological observations acquired via the NWLON and PORTS® programs. CORMS improves the overall data quality assurance of real-time measurements, reduces NOAA's potential 

liability by not publicly disseminating inadequate data, and makes the observations more useful 

for all applications. CORMS ingests real-time data from all field sensors and systems, including 

the operational nowcast/forecast models, determines data quality, and identifies and communicates the presence of invalid or suspect data to real-time users/customers who rely on the data. 

CORMS is especially vigilant during storm and tsunami events to ensure the full set of products 

and services is being disseminated in a timely fashion. An advanced version of this system, 

CORMS 3, provides personnel with alerts as soon as any sensor data are suspect or any communications problems arise. This enables speedier communication to instrument labs and field 

crews who may fix the station remotely or initiate emergency maintenance, thereby decreasing 

downtime of a particular station or sensor.

U.S. Coast Guard

Although no Coast Guard cutters or shore units are solely dedicated to meteorology, they collectively perform a variety of functions in support of the national meteorology program. USCG 

ocean-going cutters and coastal stations provide weather observations to the NWS. Coast 

Guard communications stations broadcast NWS marine forecasts, weather warnings, and 

weather facsimile charts. They also collect weather observations from commercial shipping for 

the NWS.

USCG conducts the International Ice Patrol (IIP) under the provisions of the International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea. The IIP uses sensor-equipped aircraft to patrol the Grand 

Banks of Newfoundland to locate and track icebergs that pose a hazard to North Atlantic shipping. Direct observations are supplemented and extrapolated using a numerical iceberg drift 

and deterioration model. IIP determines the geographic limits of the iceberg hazard and, twice 

daily, broadcasts iceberg warning bulletins and ice facsimile charts which define the limits of the 

iceberg threat during the iceberg season (spring and summer). IIP annually archives data on all 

confirmed and suspected icebergs, and forwards these data to the National Snow and Ice Data 

Center. These data can be accessed via the IIP web page,

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=IIPHome. Archived data contains all iceberg sighting 

data along with the last model-predicted position of each berg.

The Coast Guard participates with the Navy and NOAA in supporting the National Ice Center, a 

multi-agency operational center that produces analyses and forecasts of Arctic, Antarctic, Great 

Lakes, and coastal ice conditions. The Coast Guard also collaborates with NOAA in operating 

the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) which deploys and maintains NOAA’s automated net2-185
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

work of environmental monitoring platforms in the deep ocean and coastal regions. Five Coast 

Guard personnel fill key technical and logistics support positions within the NDBC. Coast Guard 

cutters support the heavy lift deployment and retrieval of data buoys and provide periodic 

maintenance visits to both buoys and coastal stations, expending approximately 180 cutter days 

annually. Coast Guard aircraft, small boats, and shore facilities also provide direct NDBC support.

Meteorological activities are coordinated by the Office of Marine Transportation Systems at 

Coast Guard Headquarters. Field management of Coast Guard meteorological support services 

is performed at the Coast Guard Area and District levels.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

DOT/Federal Highway Administration 

Road Weather Management Program

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) coordinates a number of research and development activities aimed at improving safety, mobility, environmental quality, and national security 

on the nation's highways. These activities include identification and mitigation of weather impacts on the roadway environment. The FHWA does not operate either the highways or their 

supporting weather systems but seeks to improve operations in partnership with other public 

agencies (primarily State Departments of Transportation), national laboratories, private firms, 

and universities across the transportation and meteorological communities. Since 1999, 

FHWA's weather-related research activities have been centered in the Road Weather Management Program (RWMP) within the Office of Transportation Operations in coordination with the 

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office, which is housed in the Office of 

the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology.

The goals of the RWMP are limited but span many areas to include: improving understanding of 

weather impacts on highway transportation systems, demonstrating a nation-wide system for 

observed road weather data, research new environmental data sources, enhancing road weather (e.g. pavement temperature) and traffic modeling with weather inputs, enhancing mechanisms for communicating road weather information to users, and developing decision support 

tools. For FY2016─ FY2017, RWMP research projects include expanded road weather observed data management and decision support applications, and weather and road data from 

vehicles or mobile devices (mobile data).

Road Weather Observing, Data Collection and Management – The 

Weather Data Environment (WxDE)

Known as Environmental Sensor Stations (ESS), the standard method for observing road 

weather conditions is with fixed sensors near and/or actually embedded in the road surface or 

non-invasive sensors that report common atmospheric weather variables plus pavement and 

subsurface road temperature, road wetness and pavement chemical concentration. Owned and 

operated by state, provincial or local transportation agencies, nearly 2,500 ESS are deployed 

across North America and together comprise one of the largest weather observing networks.

From 2006-2013, a U.S. DOT-sponsored experimental system entitled Clarus collected, formatted, quality checked, and displayed ESS road weather data from across North America. Upon 

meeting its goals, the Clarus System was decommissioned on June 15, 2013. However, the op2-186
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erational capability of the Clarus System is currently being transitioned to the Meteorological 

Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS). MADIS ingests data from NOAA data sources and 

non-NOAA providers. The MADIS team will deploy Clarus algorithms operationally in FY 2017. 

In FY 2016, these agencies continued to collaborate in the transition efforts. An important area 

of current research for both agencies is the gathering of weather and road data from vehicles.

Recognizing the continued need for road weather observations in order to execute the RWMP 

research, the Program started a new project in FY 2014 called the Weather Data Environment 

(WxDE). The WxDE builds on the Clarus system’s ability to assimilate and provide access to 

road weather data from a network of fixed stations across the nation, and perform road weather 

data quality checks. In particular, the WxDE supports the intelligent aggregation, normalization, 

warehousing, processing, and dissemination of road weather data gathered from a variety of 

fixed and mobile sources. In fall 2013, an interim demonstration instance (see http://www.itswxde.net/summaryMap.jsp) of the WxDE was launched to the community and since then, numerous improvements have been added to the system. In FY 2015 the program added improvements to the WxDE and transitioned to an operational production instance for general access. The WxDE provides data on an interoperable platform to meet the needs of weatherrelated research focused towards Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The WxDE will incorporate the most recent version of Vehicle Data Translator 4.1 (VDT – see next page) so that 

input files containing weather data for mobile and RWIS sources, road segment definitions, and 

contextual data (e.g., radar, RTMA, METAR) can be included in the system. With the VDT 4.1, 

the WxDE can compute value-added forms of collected data and preform quality checks on mobile data, therefore increasing the amount of weather-related data available. In 2016 the team 

incorporated three new algorithms to quality check mobile observations. Additionally, work has 

begun and will be deployed in FY 2016 incorporating the Pikalert VDT functionality into the 

WxDE.

USDOT Connected Vehicle Research – Vehicle-Based Weather 

Observations

Connected Vehicles Research is a multimodal initiative that aims to enable safe, interoperable 

networked wireless communications among vehicles, the transportation infrastructure, and personal communication devices.1 This research aims to leverage the potentially transformative 

capabilities of wireless technology to gather much more system data ultimately making surface 

transportation safer, smarter, and greener. Far beyond reliance on fixed or passive sensors, this 

emerging mobile technology has the potential to provide more extensive real-time travel and 

weather information to both the public sector and private industry. 

Because vehicles were not designed as weather stations, direct weather sensor readings from 

original vehicle equipment are limited to mostly air temperature and pressure, but when combined with other vehicle data they could prove useful. Some of the inferred weather variables 

from vehicle data are precipitation rate, visibility, and road surface condition. The RWMP partnered with National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to develop the Vehicle Data 

Translator (VDT), which processes weather-related data from cars and trucks in order to better 

characterize the driving conditions along standard distance (e.g. one mile) or user-defined road 

segments. In FY 2014, the VDT was updated from version 3.0 to the Pikalert Vehicle Data 

Translator (Pikalert VDT). In FY 2015, the Pikalert VDT received improvements to the science of 

its algorithms (for nowcasts, forecasts, analysis, etc.) resulting in VDT version 4.1. The outputs 

1 See http://www.its.dot.gov/connected_vehicle/connected_vehicle.htm. 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

of VDT 4.1, which processes data from connected vehicles and roadside units into meaningful, 

actionable information, is being used by existing road weather connected vehicle applications. 

This data set will potentially lead to the development of new road weather connected vehicle 

applications as well. The VDT is made available to application developers and others via the 

Open Source Application Development Portal (OSADP) - http://itsforge.net/. In FY 2016, the VDT 

will undergo eight more enhancements to the algorithms, display, and data sets resulting in VDT 

version 5.0.

In FY 2016, the FHWA will continue to partner with NCAR and the states of Nevada, Michigan 

and Minnesota to demonstrate how data already resident on state fleet vehicles could be collected, processed, transmitted and used for providing motorist advisory warnings and enhancing 

maintenance decision support systems through the Integrated Mobile Observations (IMO) 3.0 

project. The project has been helping to determine requirements, standards, and procedures for 

the collection and processing of weather, road condition, and vehicle status variables from mobile sources. Mobile weather and road condition data will also be integrated into the WxDE. The 

vision is for both public and private decision-makers to have the benefit of decision support tools 

that are supported by data from millions of vehicles through the connected vehicle initiative.

Road Weather High-priority Research Areas

The RWMP identified the following high-priority research areas for the ITS Strategic Plan2 for 

FY 2015-2019:

• Data and Applications – Continue research on road weather sensor design and integration 

within vehicles; data communications and standards; data management and quality checking; interpretation of observed mobile data and proper assimilation methods for incorporation of mobile data with other observed and modeled data; and, improved methods for information display and delivery including an understanding of human factors associated with 

user interpretation.

• State and Local Implementation Issues – From the existing RWMP projects, get a better understanding of the barriers and opportunities for public agencies to make investments on 

Connected Vehicle RWM applications, including the extent of infrastructure investments.

• Multi-Modal Integration – Continue research to build the bridge between ongoing state DOT 

efforts and connected vehicles and automation, in accordance with updates to the National 

ITS Architecture.

• Architecture & Standards – Update the Connected Vehicle Reference Implementation Architecture for RWM data and applications.

• Early Stage Applications – Continue to engage the solutions developer community to research and develop applications that leverage a flexible RWM connected vehicle communications environment.

• Connected Vehicle Pilots – Create real-world environments, urban and rural, in which public- and private-sector cooperation in implementation can educate the deployment community on the opportunities for replicating deployment.

• Data Exchange Facilitation & Interoperability – Continue to coordinate, internationally and 

domestically, information sharing specifications, architecture, and standards necessary for 

enhanced road weather data sharing across the public and private sectors within the transportation and meteorological communities. Develop and promote strategies that will foster 

2 http://www.its.dot.gov/strategicplan/

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interoperability among agencies for ingesting and disseminating weather data more universally.

• Surface Modeling – High spatial and temporal resolution surface modeling (integration of 

national weather prediction, pavement, traffic, and maintenance operations models)

• Vehicle Automation – Continue to understand the impact of road weather in connected vehicle automation and role of automation-enabled road weather applications in improving safety, mobility and environment.

• Expanded Regional Pilots – Demonstrate data management capabilities to support multimodal RWM operations and data fusion, including crowd-sourced information.

• Climate Change and Sustainability – Climate change, especially meeting the information 

needs during extreme weather events, and role of ITS in meeting the needs. Analyzing and 

anticipating the effects of climate change will ensure sustainable activities and strategies for 

deployment and operational decisions related to the ITS environment.

Weather Support for Traffic Managers

Unlike the national aviation system which has been a heavy user of weather information for 

decades, ground traffic management centers have been slow to integrate weather information 

into their operations. Since 2006, the RWMP focused a series of research projects on WeatherResponsive Traffic Management (WRTM) specifically addressing four areas: data collection and 

integration, human factors, WRTM strategies, and traffic analysis and modeling.

Initial research has been completed in many areas such as driver behavior in inclement weather; traffic speed and volume adjustment guidelines for various precipitation and visibility conditions; WRTM state of the practice review of management strategies; test and evaluation of 

those strategies; and message guidance for road weather advisory and control information.

Only until the last few years have traffic models incorporated weather data or the effects of 

weather. The RWMP completed research on the integration of weather into several traffic models including dynamic traffic prediction and assignment systems. In FY 2015, deployment began 

on a limited basis in some US cities. Research is also being conducted on the use of mobile 

weather data for traffic management.

‘Pathfinder’ is a joint FHWA-National Weather Service (NWS) project for improving transportation safety, mobility and economic productivity through cross-agency collaborative road weather 

information and messaging services. In this collaborative model, meteorologists at NWS 

Weather Forecasting Offices (WFOs) work directly with weather operations personnel/meteorologists at DOTs and/or their private weather forecast firm before, during and after 

adverse weather events. The objective is to share information and develop a consistent public 

road weather message which highlights the travel impacts expected from any given weather 

event and provides decision support to public motorists. The states of California, Nevada, Utah 

and Wyoming were chosen to serve as a testbed for the documentation and evaluation of this 

collaborative model for a single winter season. These states were chosen not only because previous communication channels had been established between the State DOTs via the I-80 Corridor Coalition, but also because each of these four states represents a different DOT-private 

weather service provider relationship that conveniently spans the range of DOT-private scenarios among the nation’s DOTs. The four states provided lessons learned, operating procedures, 

and information that was incorporated into a draft guidance document and training material for

use by other DOTs as they apply the collaborative model to their own operational scenarios.

The Weather-responsive Traffic Management Program has completed three systems for evaluation in 2016. They are described below:

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• The South Dakota DOT deployed their FHWA-funded weather responsive traveler information system. The system includes enhanced travel information on 511, SafeTravelUSA 

website, and the Android mobile app. The enhanced information includes National Weather 

Service Alerts, temperature and wind information accompanying camera images originating 

from Environmental Sensor Stations and potential road condition "threats" within the next 24 

hours derived from Maintenance Decision Support System forecasts.

• The Wyoming DOT Mobile Road Condition Reporting Application, recently developed 

through a FHWA sponsored project, has been installed on more than 20 tablets in 2 districts 

in Wyoming. The application allows snow plow drivers to report road weather conditions and 

other information directly to the TMC using the tablets.

• The Michigan DOT deployed their FHWA-funded weather responsive traveler information 

system, WxTINFO – Weather Traveler Information. The system utilizes NWS models, radars, forecasts, and advisories, watches, & warnings; and State owned environment sensor 

stations (ESS) and mobile observations. These data are input into the system and determines locations that are affected, sends messages to the TMC with the associated DMS locations for posting. In addition, the system supports messages for the State’s traveler information website, MiDrive.

The FHWA will continue participation in several OFCM projects including the WIST Working 

Group and the Committee on Integrated Observing Systems (CIOS), among others. The FHWA 

is also participating in NOAA efforts to explore the development of a national mesonet system, 

and is leading the Department’s effort regarding the transportation Societal Benefit Areas of the 

National Earth Observations assessment. Nearing the end of several research projects on data 

management and applications, the RWMP has begun to look at other problem areas and update 

the program’s research agenda. For example, research has begun on the impact of weather on 

trucking, especially in the area of delay costs in truck heavy corridors/regions. The RWMP looks 

forward to building on past successes and partnering with organizations that share the same 

passion for reducing the impact of weather on the nation’s surface transportation systems.

DOT/Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has outlined plans to support research on improving 

the collection, dissemination, and application of weather data to enhance railroad safety through 

its Intelligent Weather Systems project included in the FRA’s 5-year Research and Development 

Strategic Plan. These programs address safety issues for freight, commuter, intercity passenger, and high-speed passenger railroads. Intelligent weather systems for railroad operations 

consist of networks of local weather sensors and instrumentation—both wayside and onboard 

locomotives—combined with national, regional, and local forecast data to alert train control centers, train crews, and maintenance crews of actual or potential hazardous weather conditions.

FRA intends to examine ways that weather data can be collected on railroads and moved to 

forecasters, and ways that forecasts and current weather information can be moved to railroad 

control centers and train and maintenance crews to avoid potential accident situations. This is 

one of the partnership initiatives identified in the National Science and Technology Council’s 

National Transportation Technology Plan.

Operationally, the FRA relies on the meteorological data streams coming for the National 

Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center when issuance of regulatory waivers to railroads 

during times of severe weather is necessary.

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NOAA/National Ocean Service (NOS)

Marine Transportation Research

Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Program (OSTEP). OSTEP facilitates the transition of new oceanographic and meteorological sensors and systems to an operational status, in 

support of the NWLON and PORTS® programs. OSTEP tests instruments to ensure that they 

meet NOS requirements, develops operational deployment and implementation processes, and 

establishes quality-control criteria. OSTEP also develops defensible justification for the selection 

of instruments used for CO-OPS installations, and subsequent validation procedures for the devices traceable to U.S. National Standards or other accepted standards. Ongoing testing will 

reveal correlations of visibility data to other meteorological data types, and will result in a possible change in the standard sensor configuration of PORTS® visibility stations. OSTEP also approved a new microwave water level sensor which is now being implemented across the 

NWLON as a replacement for the acoustics water level sensors. The new technology is more 

accurate, cheaper and easier to maintain.

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WILDLAND FIRE WEATHER 

SERVICES 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Wildland Fire Weather Services are those specialized meteorological services and facilities established to meet the requirements of the wildfire management community at the Federal, state, tribal, and local levels. The primary areas of service are to 

support the reduction of wildfire initiation potential and the mitigation of both human and environmental impacts once initiation does occur. Services can include support to first responders

and land managers and climate services tailored to wildland fire management.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

Interagency Collaborative Programs and Products 

Fire Weather Services in the National Coordination Structure 

for Wildland Fire Management

Wildland fire weather services are integral to wildland fire management. Wildland fire weather 

services enable emergency managers and state and local decision makers to understand the 

influences of weather and other atmospheric conditions on fire in the environment, and to make 

effective decisions about fire management and control.

National Wildfire Coordinating Group

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) is a collaborative group of intergovernmental 

partners with a shared vision and national responsibilities for wildland fire management. The 

partners focus on firefighter and public safety by improving coordination and integration through 

sharing talents, information, and resources. The NWCG develops and maintains standards, 

qualifications and training for use by its member organizations. The NWCG enables member 

agency efforts to be consistent and coordinated while working collaboratively toward common 

goals. The Executive Board of the NWCG includes the five Federal wildland fire management 

agencies: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Fish and 

Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Park Service (NPS) in the U.S. Department of the Interior, 

and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) in the Department of Agriculture. The Executive Board also 

includes representatives from the U.S. Fire Administration within the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security, USFS Research, and three entities with 

responsibility for wildfire management on non-Federal forest lands: the National Association of 

State Foresters (NASF), the Intertribal Timber Council (ITC), and the International Association 

of Fire Chiefs. Oversight, policy coordination, and strategic direction for NWCG are provided by 

a series of federal and non-federal groups from the senior executive to the fire program levels.
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

The NWCG is organized into four branches, fourteen committees, and numerous subgroups, 

representing the many business areas of wildland fire (e.g. aviation, equipment, fuels, and qualifications). The NWCG committee most directly and frequently involved with capabilities for informing the wildland fire community about fire weather is the Fire Environment Committee 

(FENC) in the Planning Branch. This Committee has chartered several permanent subcommittees:

• The Fire Weather Subcommittee (FWS) maintains the Interagency Wildland Fire Weather 

Station Standards and Guidelines, which addresses the network of permanently located 

Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS), portable stations used for incident response 

and prescribed fire, and manual fire weather stations. The Fire Environment Observation 

Unit under the FWS consists of the agency RAWS program managers who maintain the 

network of 2200 stations for their wildland fire agencies. 

• The Fire Danger Subcommittee provides interagency direction to the Forest Service for the 

National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) – a strategic planning tool and its national 

processor, the Weather Information Management System (WIMS). RAWS and manual station observations are key weather inputs to the NFDRS in WIMS. 

• The Fire Behavior Subcommittee provides interagency guidance for the use of fire weather 

observations for determining fire behavior predictions from a variety of tactical applications. 

These predictions include the work of Fire Behavior Analysts working closely with Incident 

Meteorologists on incidents. 

• The Fire Environment Core Curriculum Subcommittee provides technical expertise to the 

Training Branch to support the NWCG fire environment training courses. 

In 2012, the FENC developed guidance released by the Executive Board on management of the 

RAWS network: http://www.nwcg.gov/pms/pubs/426/index.htm. The RAWS network is generally 

located in remote areas. RAWS observations fill a critical spatial gap in the initialization of the 

National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD).

National Interagency Fire Center

The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), located in Boise, Idaho, is the nation's support 

center for wildland firefighting. Eight different agencies and organizations are part of NIFC: the 

five wildland management agencies, the National Weather Service (NWS) in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Association of State Foresters, and the 

U.S. Fire Administration. Decisions 

are made using the interagency 

cooperation concept because NIFC 

has no single director or manager. 

The National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC), located at 

the NIFC, coordinates the national 

mobilization of resources for 

wildland fire and other incidents 

throughout the United States. Wildfire suppression is built on a threetiered system of support: the local 

area, one of eleven geographic arFigure 1: Entrance to the NIFC in Boise, showing the logos of the 

participating Federal agencies and the National Association of 

State Foresters.

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eas, and the national level. When a fire is reported, the local agency and its firefighting partners 

respond. If the fire continues to grow, the agency can ask for help from its Geographic Area Coordinating Center (GACC). When a geographic area has exhausted all its resources, it can turn 

to the NICC for help in locating what is needed, from air tankers to radios to firefighting crews to 

incident management teams.

National Predictive Services Program

Under the Predictive Services Program, meteorologists who specialize in fire weather services 

team with intelligence specialists and wildland fire analysts at the GACCs and the NICC to form 

Predictive Services Units. Each GACC and the NICC has a Predictive Services unit staffed with 

one or two meteorologists and an intelligence specialist. The NICC unit and Pacific Northwest 

GACC include a wildland fire analyst, and some of the GACC units add a fire behavior specialist 

during fire season. The Predictive Services units act as centers of expertise to produce integrated planning and decision support tools that enable more proactive, safe, and cost-effective fire 

management.

NOAA/National Weather Service 

The National Weather Service (NWS) Fire Weather Services support Federal, state, and local 

land management, supporting partners such as the Department of Interior and the Department 

of Agriculture. On the national level, the Analyze, Forecast and Support Office (AFSO) and 

NWS Office of the Chief Operating Officer directly support tactical and strategic operations at 

NIFC. In addition to its severe storm mission, the NWS Storm Prediction Center issues assessments of critical fire weather patterns up to 8 days in advance. NWS Weather Forecast Offices 

(WFOs) also issue a complete Fire Weather Forecast twice daily, with updates as needed. The 

forecast contains weather information relevant to fire control and smoke management for the 

next 36-48 hours. The appropriate dispatch zones and crews use this information to plan staffing levels, equipment placement, prescribed burn conditions, and to assess the daily fire danger. Once per day, NWS meteorologists issue forecasts for specific wildland observation sites 

for input into the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS). NFDRS determines land use 

restrictions and informs the public of the daily fire danger via the Smokey Bear awareness campaign. The WFOs also determine if a Fire Weather Watch or a Red Flag Warning needs to be 

issued. These products alert fire managers of the potential for weather conditions creating extreme fire behavior or overwhelming initial attack capability. Finally, upon request of incident 

managers, NWS forecasters issue spot forecasts for specific fire incidents, prescribed burn projects or other all-hazard incidents. In addition, the National Center for Environmental Prediction 

produces high resolution model guidance for winds, relative humidity, convection, precipitation 

and heat that may impact fire growth and environmental smoke transport over the next 3-6 

hours. 

Upon request, NWS also provides on-scene assistance at large wildfires or other disasters, including hazardous materials incidents, by deploying Incident Meteorologists (IMETs) to work 

with Incident Management Teams. These forecasters are volunteers from around 50 WFOs 

across the nation, specially trained to respond to wildland fire incidents. Incident support may 

be as close as their home forecast area, or as far as across the continent. Normally within 24 

hours of receiving a request for support, IMETs arrive at the incident site and assemble a mobile 

weather center capable of providing continuous meteorological support for the duration of the 

incident. They gather other weather information through a remote connection and provide standup and on-the-spot forecasts/analysis to firefighters and agency heads. The IMET program is 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

coordinated and implemented nationally by the National Fire Weather Operations Coordinator 

and the National Science and Dissemination Meteorologist at the NIFC.

The NWS has implemented regional digital weather files to complement currently-provided spot 

forecasts. The weather output enables Fire Behavior Analysts to directly input gridded weather 

data into fire danger assessments. These improvements are particularly important near zones 

where planned communities meet the wildland forests (known as the Wildland-Urban Interface). 

Recent improvements also include the creation of two fire weather specific gridded weather elements, an improved spot forecast program with access to smoke trajectory modeling. In addition NOAA and the USFS signed a fire weather research MOU in August 2011 that serves to 

coordinate applied fire weather research among the two agencies. Finally, the NWS renewed 

the Interagency Agreement for Meteorological Services with land management Agency Federal 

partners in September of 2012. The Agreement is valid through September, 2017. NWS will 

continue excellent interagency relations with the wildland fire community through implementation of a new Interagency Agreement for Meteorological Services.

USDA/U.S. Forest Service

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) uses meteorological data for wildland fire (wildfire and prescribed fire) decision support. The Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) program operates a network of approximately 966 remote automated weather stations (RAWS) in a 

national network of over 2600 stations. The network provides real-time information which forms 

the foundation for the, Weather Information Management System (WIMS) used widely by fire 

agencies across the country. The data collected are critical to strategic and tactical wildfire decision-making, including use in the Wildland Fire Decision Support System, fire behavior and effects applications, and for decision-making during prescribed fire operations.

The program provides liaison with the Satellite Telemetry Interagency Working Group (STIWG) and its associated Technical Working Group and with the National Weather Service (NWS), the wildland fire management agencies in the Department of the Interior 

(BLM, FWS, BIA, and NPS), State fire protection 

agencies, and the National Wildfire Coordinating 

Group on the delivery of fire weather data and forecasting, critical for safety and effectiveness of firefighting and for flash flood warnings. The Forest Service also manages the Interagency RAWS website 

(http://raws.fam.nwcg.gov). The information from 

RAWS forms the basis for fire danger assessments, 

pre-positioning of firefighting assets, and conducting 

prescribed fire operations. Costs for the program include maintenance and support contracts, training and 

certification sessions, contracts for synthesis and delivery of information to wildfire responders, fire weather 

forecasters, and state and local governments that use 

the data in real-time for critical decisions.

The agency works with the National Predictive Services Group at the National Interagency Fire Center to 

Figure 2: Wildland fires in the wildlandurban interface are a continuing threat to 

lives and property.

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provide technical support and oversight to the 11 Geographic Area Coordination Centers. It also 

works closely with the Forest Service Research and Development to oversee the five Fire Consortia for Advanced Modeling of Meteorology and Smoke (FCAMMS) locations. This effort, in 

cooperation with NOAA and the Environmental Protection Agency, provides valuable fire 

weather, smoke forecasting and air quality information to fire and air quality programs. The 

FCAMMS and Predictive Services Group provide critical information for both planning of 

wildland fire activities as well as operational decision-making.

Forest Service FAM has also initiated the Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program to address increasingly severe smoke impacts on the public from wildfires. The Program encompasses a national emergency response cache of smoke monitoring and meteorological equipment which display data to internal decision-makers as well as the public through an array of 

websites including EPA’s AirNow. This program has developed a cadre of interagency technical 

specialists (THSP) called Air Resource Advisors who are available for deployment to wildfire 

incidents to provide immediate air quality impact information, fine particulate monitoring, predictive smoke modeling which is used to produce smoke impact forecasts and direct communication and collaboration with states and communities affected by smoke. Operational smoke modeling by Air Resource Advisors includes state of the art modeling capacity from Forest Service 

R&D that operates at fine spatial scales using grids provided by NOAA as well as other partners 

and includes sufficient temporal depth for proactive decision making. The Program also coordinates and collaborates with CDC, EPA and many states in guiding air quality response to wildfire smoke impacts.

The Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) integrates state of the art science and 

technology in support of risk-informed decision making (wfdss.usgs.gov). It is a web-based system that integrates vegetation, topography, weather, and property and infrastructure data used 

to evaluate wildfire risk, conduct analysis, and document decisions for all wildland fires. It facilitates access to a diverse set of analytical tools in the areas of fire behavior modeling, fire 

weather information, economic assessment, air quality and smoke management, and information technology to support efficient and effective wildland fire decisions consistent with federal and non-federal natural resource and wildland fire management plans and community 

wildland fire protection plans. The WFDSS greatly reduces the time to assemble and evaluate 

large databases by using comprehensive enterprise databases in a spatial context. The system 

also incorporates a progressive decision documentation and analysis process that can be 

scaled and adapted to match incident specific requirements and situational changes. Through 

WFDSS, information is assembled, consolidated, and processed for decision makers in a way 

that fosters collaboration and, ultimately, provides better opportunities to improve large wildland 

fire strategic decision making. WFDSS is continually upgraded to provide more useful information, easier to use applications, and data updates 

(wfdss.usgs.gov/wfdss/pdfs/Need2Know_2015.pdf).

U.S. Geological Survey

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the USFS, routinely provides weekly 

forecasts of fire danger for the conterminous US and provides these forecasts to the National 

Interagency Fire Center. The forecasts are derived from an integration of vegetation condition 

observed from satellite and meteorological forecasts provided from the NWS’s National Digital 

Forecast Database (NDFD). The NDFD forecasts provide meteorological information necessary 

for the calculation of live and dead fuel moisture, a critical element in determining wildland fire 

danger.

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For active fire, the Basic Fire Behavior and Short-Term Fire Behavior components of the 

WFDSS use forecasted weather from the NDFD. NDFD incorporates Remote Access Weather 

Station (RAWS) location to derive forecasted weather data. This forecast information, along with 

geospatial data provide by the USGS are used to derive live and dead fuel moisture characteristics and wind conditions to aid in the prediction of fire behavior. 

Landslides Hazards Program. Debris flows and flash floods that originate from steep watersheds burned by wildfire pose considerable hazards to downstream communities and structures. Fires throughout the western U.S. have impacted hundreds of thousands of acres of public land and made it susceptible to increased runoff and debris-flow activity. Science-based information on post wildfire debris-flow hazards is critically needed by Federal, State, and local 

agencies to issue warnings and to mitigate the impacts of post-fire hazards on people, their 

property, and natural resources. A joint NOAA/USGS, flash flood and debris flow warning system for recently burned basins in southern California was established in 2005 by linking the existing NWS Flash Flood Monitoring and Prediction (FFMP) system with rainfall intensity-duration 

thresholds for burned areas developed by the USGS. Such a system is being used to issue Outlooks, Watches and Warnings that are disseminated to emergency-management personnel and 

the public through the NWS existing protocol. The USGS has also developed models for characterizing potential post-fire debris flow susceptibility that, when compared with forecast or 

measured precipitation, have been used to generate maps of potential hazards in real- time, 

which have been disseminated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the 

public through existing NWS protocol. The USGS has also developed models for characterizing 

potential post-fire debris flow susceptibility that, when compared with forecast or measured precipitation, have been used to generate maps of potential hazards in real- time, which have been 

disseminated to FEMA and to State and local agencies. Since its inception, numerous advisories have been given to residents and public officials, resulting in saved lives and reduced property damage.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

Department of Agriculture

U.S. Forest Service

The research and development (R&D) mission of the USFS is to develop and deliver knowledge 

and innovative technology to improve the health and use of the Nation’s forests and grasslands—both public and private. R&D provides this information to landowners, managers, policymakers, and the American people to help inform their decisions and actions. USFS researchers work independently and with a range of partners to provide land managers with information 

and technology to make management and land use decisions on issues such as invasive species, healthy watersheds, wildfires, climate change, and traditional and alternative forest products. The USFS R&D workforce includes scientists and technicians in the biological, physical, 

and social science fields, working in partnership with researchers from other agencies, academia, nonprofit groups, and industry. A few of the key accomplishments:

• A study of climate change and land-use change impacts on fire weather and fire behavior in 

the eastern U.S. using regional-scale climate models. Forest service research used climate 

change projections from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program to assess where changing climate conditions in different regions of the U.S. could result in fire-weather conditions more conducive to extreme or erratic fire behavior. Results 

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have improved understanding of potential effects that climate and land-use change have on 

the frequency of large and more extreme fires in the eastern U.S. because of more conducive fire-weather and fuel conditions.

• Comparison of smoke models. Forest Service scientists designed the Smoke and Emissions 

Model Inter-comparison Project to examine requirements for fire emissions and smoke impact modeling and conduct baseline comparisons between existing models and develop 

standard approaches for evaluating the operational capacity of new models. Results indicate 

lack of fire occurrence data quality for small fires is a major source of uncertainty for emissions inventories. The varying quality of wildland fuels maps used as input for modeling applications imposes a major source of uncertainty even in national annual emissions totals. 

Recently two major data development projects have been funded to address this issue. The 

complex dynamics of smoke plumes that form over wildland fires pose a significant challenge to correctly predicting air quality impacts.

• Forest service research is using emerging technologies such as airborne LiDAR to quantify 

and predict the dynamics of smoke plumes and associated transport processes to reduce 

uncertainty in determining the impacts of wildfire emissions on air quality and public health 

and safety. The research addresses gaps in parameterizing and validating smoke transport 

models and quantitatively defines uncertainties, biases, and limits in existing and emerging 

applications. Results indicate that previous estimates of wildfire emissions may have underestimated the production of pollutants and, therefore, the potential of wildfire to degrade air 

quality. 

• The Forest Service Planning Rule requires national forests to consider air quality when developing plan components and to consider air resources consistently with soil and water resources. Forest Service managers use applications developed by Forest Service researchers to measure or estimate the amount of atmospheric deposition occurring on National 

Forests and if the amount of deposition affects forest resources. With this requirement in 

mind, an Air Quality Portal has been developed as an online decision management tool to 

assist forest managers in evaluating air pollution impacts on their landscapes. By creating 

an easy-to-use resource to facilitate consideration of air resources for forest planning, we 

ensure a nationally consistent methodology which incorporates the best available science 

and data and eases the burden on land managers. Briefings and presentations have 

demonstrated and advertised this tool to internal and external staffs and organizations. Internal feedback has focused on using the Air Quality Portal as a model for providing guidance on forest planning in other resource areas. External feedback has focused on expanding availability of the tool for management use in other agencies and organizations, because 

the Portal is currently only available on the FS intranet. 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) supports innovative, near-term 

demonstrations of its scientific results, technology developments, and satellite observations for 

societal benefit through its Applied Science Program element of the Earth Science Division 

(ESD). These projects serve as a bridge between NASA-generated data, derived products, information, knowledge and the decision-making needs of public and private organizations. Endusers of NASA’s products are able to apply Earth observations and model results to support activities that influence productivity, enhance quality of life, and strengthen the economy.

Wildland Fire Weather Applications: New Opportunities. In FY 2016, the Applied Sciences Program completed their second year (of a planned three-year supported effort) of the 

nine funded Phase II Wildfire Applications Projects. During the Phase II developments, the projects are expected to successfully transition their capabilities to operational use by partner or2-199
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

ganizations. Partner organizations are expected to ramp-up their support and provide operational continuity of the transitioned capabilities. The projects advancing to Phase II focused on 

fire-related multidisciplinary topics including health and air quality, ecological forecasting, fire 

weather, water resources, disasters, and climate, and addressed all stages of wildland fire activities (pre-fire, active-fire, and post-fire assessment). In FY 2017, the projects are expected to 

provide baseline data, models and information, in a quasi-operational environment, allowing 

early assessment of adaptation by their partners. By the end of FY 2017, the projects are expected to have operationalized/transitioned their models, tools, and information sets, for use 

within their partner organizations.

Of the nine selected Phase II wildland fire applications projects, four had a focused fire-weather 

forecasting and modeling component. Those four projects are highlighted here:

• Wildland Fire Behavior and Risk Forecasting focuses on improving forecasting of wildland 

fire behavior and risk through inclusion of NASA/NOAA remote sensing observations, integrated within NOAA fire weather forecasting systems (see Figure 1). The system is based 

on a coupled atmosphere-wildland fire model, which combines the Weather Research and 

Forecasting model (WRF) with a fire spread model (WRF-SFIRE) and a dynamic fuel moisture model. Dynamic data from NASA and NOAA orbital platforms (moisture estimation, 

burn scar mapping, and fire detection) are assimilated into the simulations. The system is 

accessed through NOAA FX-Net system or a website, and downloadable KML files for visualization in Google Earth. Expected operational partners to advance the capabilities include 

NOAA, US Forest Service, and BLM.

• An Integrated Forest and Fire Monitoring and Forecasting System for Improved Forest Management in the Tropics focuses on development of a near-real-time alert system (FireCast) 

for use in under-served, non-traditional partner countries (such as Bolivia, Peru, Madagascar, and Indonesia) to enable improved fire monitoring, forecasting and improving monitoring of illegal forest activities (harvesting, burning, etc.). FireCast will include monitoring by 

Figure 3: Coupled SFIRE Model and FX-Net Systems. This project provides an advanced tool for fire 

spread forecasting and improved fire weather prediction in the hands of fire support personnel, integrated into an environment, with which they are already familiar and use routinely. (Courtesy of S. 

Schranz, NOAA and CO State Univ.).

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NASA/NOAA orbital observation assets (MODIS, VIIRS, and Landsat) and development of 

fire risk models based on observed vegetation condition class and fire weather variables. 

FireCast will make a strong contribution to enhancing conservation and sustainable development goals for each of the target countries.

• TOPOFIRE: A System for Monitoring Insect and Climate-Induced Impacts on Fire Danger in 

Complex Terrain integrates NASA remote sensing and climate products into a decision support tool that delivers a suite of high spatial resolution real-time information essential to 

wildland fire management. Data from thousands of temperature and humidity sensors distributed across the US is enabling refinement of the North American Land Data Assimilation 

System (NLDAS) downscaling algorithms, and the generation of high resolution historical 

and real-time gridded climate datasets. The fire spread simulator FARSITE is being modified 

to assimilate gridded microclimate data, which are coupled with high-resolution hydrologic 

outputs to produce on-demand fire behavior simulations that account for topo-climate and 

disturbance-induced structural change. Crowd-sourced weather and fuels information from 

incidents will be assimilated into hydro-climatic and fire behavior models, returning terrain 

and location-corrected fire behavior and incident risk information via smart phone to the firefighter.

• Development and Application of Spatially Refined Remote Sensing Active Fire Data Sets in 

Support of Fire Monitoring, Management and Planning builds on proven science algorithms 

to produce new spatially refined active fire detection satellite products that yield significantly 

improved fire information. In addition, these products are used to initialize and validate fire 

growth predictions in a coupled weather-fire model that accounts for fuel information (NASA 

/ NOAA orbital sensors) and weather forecasts (including wind forecasts) to optimize the 

modeled outputs (see Figure 2). The significance is that this approach can now be applied 

to monitor and predict the growth of a fire or a group of simultaneous wildland fires in a 

management unit from first detection until containment. The project focuses on near realtime operational delivery of new satellite remote sensing fire data, including customized 

products tailored for the end user community. Key partner agencies include the USDA Forest Service and the National Weather Service.

Each of these projects will result in an 

improvement in the capacity of the fire 

management community to monitor, 

model, predict and manage fire behavior to reduce impacts on the community and still optimize ecological 

balances and benefits that fire can

provide. These projects have already 

garnered increased betatest/operational use on wildfires in the 

U.S. during the severe 2015 Wildfire 

season. An operational increase of 

those model uses is expected during 

the 2016 fire season, as the projects 

reach maturity. The integration of fire 

weather information and models can 

and will improve the capacity to understand fire interplay in the ecosystem.

Figure 4: CAWFE simulation of the 2012 High Park wildfire. The 

rate of heat release (W.m-2) is shown, according to the color 

bar. Intensely burning regions are yellow and orange. The misty 

field shows the smoke concentration, which is thicker and darker.

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

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OTHER SPECIALIZED SERVICES 

For purposes of this Federal Plan, Other Specialized Services include weather and climate 

information services and facilities established to meet the special needs of user agencies or 

constituencies not included in basic services or the preceding service categories. This service category includes any efforts to integrate the social sciences into meteorological operations, applications, and services not already described in the preceding sections.

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OPERATIONAL PROGRAMS INCLUDING PRODUCTS AND 

SERVICES

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provides operational weather support to spaceflight operations through the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD). 

Kennedy Space Center Weather Office

The HEOMD Weather Projects at NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) has oversight responsibility for operation and maintenance of the weather information infrastructure required for 

NASA’s manned spaceflight programs, and Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELV) programs. The 

infrastructure is a multi-agency partnership between NASA, the Department of Defense (DOD), 

and the Department of Commerce (DOC), and includes NASA’s KSC, Marshall Space Flight 

Center (MSFC) and Johnson Space Center (JSC); the DOD’s US Air Force (USAF) 30th and 

45th Space Wings; and the DOC’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

National Weather Service (NWS) Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG). The KSC Weather 

Projects also provides daily staff meteorological support to KSC and NASA programs operating 

from KSC or the Eastern Range.

The ELV program operates from many locations, including Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 

(CCAFS) in Florida, Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California, NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in Virginia, the Alaska Aerospace Corporation Pacific Spaceport Complex – Alaska 

(PSCA) in Alaska, and the US Army Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Island. The KSC Weather Projects ensures that DOD weather support at DOD sites meets 

NASA requirements through training, technology, and tools. The KSC Weather Projects works 

with non-DOD sites and their weather service providers (such as the NWS or commercial companies) to provide similar assurance at those sites for NASA launches.

The KSC Weather Projects is the NASA lead for the joint NASA and USAF Lightning Advisory 

Panel (LAP), which provides independent scientific assessments of changes to the lightning 

launch commit criteria (LLCC) and technical guidance about lightning-related issues on facilities 

and ground operations. The Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) utilizes the same criteria for lightning flight commit criteria (LFCC) at commercial 

spaceports.
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

In FY 2016, the KSC Weather Projects:

• Supported HEOMD through infrastructure and requirements concept studies for the Space 

Launch System (SLS), Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), and Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO)

• Supported NASA ELV launches from the Eastern and Western Ranges, as well as commercial and DOD launches from the Eastern Range

• Supported infrastructure and concept of operations development for commercial launch programs and NASA/WFF

• Supported the turnover, calibration and acceptance testing of the new Tropospheric Doppler 

Radar Wind Profiler (TDRWP; formally called the 50-MHz DRWP)

• Supported the Lightning System Upgrade (LSU) on the Eastern Range for data communication and validation

• Continued assisting the FAA with sustainment of the LFCC for the commercial sector

• Continued to work toward publishing an updated version of the LLCC Rationale document, 

developing a NASA Standard document for the LLCC, and educating partners/stakeholders 

about the LAP and LLCC

In FY 2017, the KSC Weather Projects will:

• Continue to support the Launch Services Program and the International Space Station (ISS) 

program

• Continue to coordinate with NASA/WFF, PSCA, and other launch facilities in addition to the 

DOD Ranges

• Continue to support commercial launch operators in developing weather infrastructure, requirements, and concepts of operation

• Continue assisting the FAA with sustainment of the LFCC for the commercial sector

• Support SLS, MPCV and GSDO through planning, design, test and operations of the test 

flight programs

• Continue to work with the Eastern Range and other Ranges to assure effective and efficient 

meteorological services in support of vehicle processing, launch and recovery operations

Spaceflight Meteorology Group

The Space Meteorology Group (SMG) is located at NASA/JSC. In FY 2016, the SMG: 

• Participated in planning meteorological support for MPCV future operations

• Acted as meteorological consultant to NASA/JSC Flight Operations Directorate efforts for 

the Commercial Crew Program (CCP)

• Supported Orion parachute drop test events at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, with surface and 

upper wind forecasts

• Supported NASA with enroute forecasts for recovery personnel flying roundtrip from Houston to Kazakhstan to retrieve U.S. astronauts returning from the ISS on the Russian Soyuz 

spacecraft

• Provided ongoing lightning and severe weather customized advisories for JSC management, weather sensitive operations, and employees

In FY 2017, the SMG will:

• Participate in NASA/JSC Mission Control Center (MCC) landing simulations for MPCV

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Other Specialized Services

• Continue consultation with commercial crew mission scheduled to be controlled from the 

JSC MCC 

• Implement AWIPS II enhancements focused on MPCV, other manned programs and JSC 

specific support

• Support Orion parachute drop test events at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, with surface and 

upper wind forecasts

• Support NASA with enroute forecasts for recovery personnel flying roundtrip from Houston 

to Kazakhstan to retrieve U.S. astronauts returning from the ISS on the Russian Soyuz 

spacecraft

• Support the NASA/Langley Scientifically Calibrated in Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) project, as 

requested, by providing cloud forecasts for thermal imaging of commercial launch vehicles

• Provide lightning, severe weather, and tropical storm/hurricane customized advisories for 

JSC management, weather sensitive operations, and employees 

The Space Radiation Analysis Group

The Space Radiation Analysis Group (SRAG) is located at JSC and is responsible for ensuring 

that the radiation exposure received by astronauts remains below established safety limits. 

SRAG is responsible for daily assessment of the space weather environment for human exploration, and works directly with flight control teams to assess real-time mission impacts of adverse space weather conditions. Some of the key space weather-related activities that SRAG is 

conducting in FY 2016 and FY 2017 include:

• Daily monitoring of the space weather environment and impact assessment for crewed missions. 

• Developing and maintaining protocols for radiation environment contingency response and 

analysis. 

• Operating instruments both internal and external to crewed spacecraft for radiation environment characterization, quantification and impact assessment. 

• Building and processing of crew worn passive dosimeters and maintaining all crew radiation 

exposure records. 

• Design and Development of next generation radiation sensors that reduce mass, volume, 

and power without compromising data integrity.

• Developing collaborations for maintaining necessary space radiation measurements for instruments operating beyond planned lifetimes. 

• Leading the development of space weather forecasting models.

• Transitioning maturing space weather forecast models from research to operations. 

• Leading development of state-of-the-art radiation transport tools for vehicle design radiation 

analysis.

• Implementing state-of-the art radiation risk models used to ensure astronauts are within lifetime career radiation risk limits.

• Providing annual, end-of-active service, and ad hoc astronaut radiation risk reports.

• Providing planning and analyses of exploration class human exploration missions to ensure 

radiation exposure limits are not exceeded and is kept ALARA given overall mission constraints.

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

Marshall Space Flight Center

The Natural Environments Branch (NEB) develops and implements weather support requirements for the SLS and other programs, including development and evaluation of launch constraints. 

In FY 2016, the NEB:

• Developed additional terrestrial environment specifications, as needed, and provided atmospheric data and models for vehicle design, verification, and operation for the SLS and 

MPCV programs

• Developed day-of-launch ascent performance evaluation procedures relating to upper air 

wind and thermodynamic requirements, and supported launch commit criteria development 

for the SLS and MPCV programs

• Provided insight into the atmospheric data and models used for vehicle and operations design for the CCP

In FY 2017, the NEB will:

• Continue to develop and improve atmospheric wind and thermodynamic climatological data 

sets and models for vehicle design and operational safety margin analysis for the SLS and 

MPCV programs

• Continue developing day-of-launch ascent performance evaluation procedures relating to 

upper air wind and thermodynamic requirements, and supporting launch commit criteria development for the SLS and MPCV programs

• Continue to provide insight into the atmospheric data and models used for vehicle and operations design for the CCP

U.S. Air Force Space Launch Support

Air Force organizations provide meteorological and space weather products to the Nation’s 

space and missile programs, including a wide range of weather observing services at the Air 

Force Eastern Range and Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Air Force organizations also provide 

tailored forecasting for NASA’s manned and unmanned launches and for commercial launches 

from KSC. In addition, Air Force weather personnel provide specialized meteorological information for the Air Force Western Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; the Pacific 

Missile Range, which includes Point Mugu and San Nicholas Island, California, and Barking 

Sands, Hawaii; White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; Kwajalein Missile Range, Republic of 

the Marshall Islands; and other DoD research and test facilities as directed.

U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command

Support to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS)

The RTS meteorological services contractor provides support for range activities, including local 

and remote missile launches, missile weapons readiness testing, and aviation, marine, and

emergency operations.

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Other Specialized Services

A full suite of meteorological surface, upper air, satellite, radar, and lightning observing systems 

are available. Surface systems include 

an intra-atoll mesonet and an FAAapproved Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS III-P/T), supporting 

range and International Civil Aviation 

Organization at Bucholtz Army Airfield 

(AAF) and an automatic meteorological 

observing system at Dyess AAF. Upper 

air sounding systems (1680 MHz), utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS) 

radiosondes, are located on Kwajalein 

and Roi-Namur. One portable GPS upper air system (403 MHz) is available to 

provide soundings at remote locations. A 

dual-polarized Doppler S-band weather 

radar provides weather surveillance from 

Kwajalein Island, and a Doppler C-band 

weather radar is available for operations 

at Wake Island. Both are volumescanning radars that support prediction 

of lightning events. The Polar-orbiting 

Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) satellite receiver at Kwajalein is in the process of 

being replaced by a new X- and L-band dual frequency system that will provide the Range with 

multiple satellite capability for cloud detection, movement, analyses and one geostationary satellite receiver, with data processing and analysis provided through McIDAS management and 

display supporting all systems. A low-gain lightning detection network of four sensors is available to the RTS meteorologist in support of Kwajalein Atoll. A thunderstorm sensor that includes 

a field mill supports lightning prediction and detection at Wake Island. One thunderstorm sensor 

is attached to the AWOS III-P/T at Bucholtz Army Airfield. RTS provides rocketsondes locally 

and at remote locations where radar tracking can support. 

In cooperation with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, RTS Weather continues to support 

global climate studies through Global Precipitation Measurement. Solar-Earth radiation fluxes 

monitoring with a suite of radiation measurements systems began in 1989 and are being 

reestablished by NOAA’S Earth Systems Research Laboratory (ESRL).

Figure 1: A rocketsonde launch on Kwajalein Atoll. U.S. 

Army Photo.

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National Park Service/Fish and Wildfire Service

NPS Air Quality and Visibility Monitoring

The National Park Service (NPS) monitors air quality and visibility in a number of national parks 

and monuments. Gaseous pollutant data are collected on continuous and integrated (24-hour to 

weekly) bases. Surface meteorological data are collected and analyzed for hourly averages. 

Precipitation chemistry is determined on week-long integrated rainfall samples. Twenty-fourhour-average particle concentrations (mass, elemental analyses, some chemical constituent 

analyses) are measured every third day. Atmospheric light extinction is measured continuously 

and relayed to a central location for analyses.
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

Joint Air Quality Monitoring 

The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Air Quality Branch and the NPS Air Resources Division are 

located in Lakewood, Colorado. Expertise from both agencies is pooled to address the air quality issues that are the responsibility of the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife 

and Parks.

The NPS oversees the operation of the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network and the IMPROVE Protocol network in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), NOAA, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the FWS, the Bureau of Land Management, and various State organizations. Currently, the network has about 

165 sites, mostly funded by the EPA in support of its regional haze regulations and through other cooperators. The enhanced network allows a better characterization of visibility and fine particle concentrations throughout rural and remote areas of the country (see figure below).

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Figure 2: Map of one-year average standard visual range (SVR) from 2015, in kilometers, calculated 

from IMPROVE particle concentrations. Also shown are the locations of most of the IMPROVE and 

IMPROVE protocol sites in the contiguous U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Assessments and evaluations of radiological impacts. 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) continues to primarily be a user of meteorological 

information rather than perform research in the field. The NRC utilizes meteorological data to 

assess radiological impacts of routine airborne releases from facilities; to evaluate the impact of 

proposed changes in plant design and operation on unplanned and accidental releases; and to 

analyze the impacts of specific atmospheric conditions on various structures, systems, and 

components required to remain safe during operation at licensee facilities. The NRC also uses 

current meteorological information and climatological predictions of extreme meteorological 
Other Specialized Services

events to evaluate new reactor designs and sites, as well as for existing and operating reactor 

locations. In FY 2016 and into 2017, the NRC continues to see a need for understanding rare 

phenomenon, such as maximum precipitation events. 

Within the NRC, the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the Office of New Reactors conduct safety reviews of nuclear power plant siting, design, construction, and operation. The Office 

of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards conducts similar reviews but of materials and waste 

facilities. In addition, the Office of New Reactors is also responsible for conducting environmental reviews for environmental impact statements that pertain to new license applications and/or 

early site permit applications, as required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. All 

of these reviews, both safety and environmental, include the consideration of air quality and meteorological factors, regional climatology, and local meteorology. The staff within these NRC offices also conduct rulemaking activities to establish regulatory requirements and guidance, and 

the NRC Regional Offices ensure that NRC licensees comply with these regulatory requirements.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

U.S. Army

U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine

The U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) incorporates weather 

as an essential component in studying and modeling human physiology and biophysics, with the 

goal of improving Warfighter performance and minimizing health risks associated with environmental extremes. USARIEM and partners at U.S. Army Research Laboratory-White Sands Missile Range (ARL-WSMR) are developing methodologies for integrating real-time local environmental data and Warfighter physiological data into predictive models and Soldier-scale weather 

forecasting. The effective combination of these two dynamic data streams will enable real-time 

predictions of environmental strain and physiological status for Warfighters.

National Park Service

Air Quality Research

The National Park Service (NPS) conducts research to develop and test air quality models to 

assess long-range transport, chemical transformation, and deposition of air pollutants. These 

models are used to estimate source contributions to, and to identify source regions responsible 

for, observed pollutant loadings.

The NPS is conducting research in the area of atmospheric nitrogen loading to high-elevation 

ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains, which have documented effects from nitrogen deposition.

In conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, the NPS has been examining the bidirectional flux of ammonia in mountainous locations to ascertain the total loading to sensitive 

ecosystems. 

A key focus of NPS research has been on visibility, as it affects the clarity and color of scenic 

views. Direct measurements of light scattering or relating atmospheric aerosol loading to light 

extinction properties are routinely used to quantify visibility. Photographs, however, are much 

more relatable to the average person. The NPS is exploring methods to provide quantitative 

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Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

measurements from photographs. This can provide a powerful tool to communicate the effects 

of pollution on a scene to the public in a relatable way.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Applied Meteorology Unit

The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) is a joint venture between NASA, the USAF, and NOAA 

NWS. The AMU is co-located with the 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) located at CCAFS. The 

AMU develops, evaluates, and transitions weather technology into operations.

In FY 2016, the AMU:

• Investigated lightning standoff distances to ensure safety while providing the maximum operational availability. Also, used clustering algorithms for initial development of an automated lightning warning system.

• Provided new capability to several meteorological tools including the MetCast tool on 

AWIPS workstations, the lightning probability tool, the upper winds comparison tool, and the 

anvil cloud forecast tool. Also, performed tool troubleshooting and added improved documentation.

• Expanded the 45 WS Weather Warning database project to consolidate weather warning 

metrics. Improved capability includes import of data from the Joint Environmental Toolkit 

(JET) into the database to produce monthly metrics as well as climatology.

• Is expanding the period of record of the existing Vandenberg wind tower climatology using 

data from December 2012 to September 2015 

• Implemented a work around to increase the update time interval of the locally tuned AMU 

Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model when it stopped running in December.

The AMU is replacing the damaged hardware.

• Created an Excel/Google Earth tool to plot 3-D trajectories so launch customers can view 

differences in location between the sounding balloon, TDRWP measurement and launch 

vehicle trajectory as well as the differences in the measured wind speeds.

• The AMU supported launch operations for 8 launches so far in FY2016: five Atlas V and 

three Falcon 9. The AMU expects to support 14 more launches in FY2016: four Atlas V, 

seven Falcon 9, and three Delta IV.

In FY 2017, the AMU will:

• Analyze and compare the upper level winds from the TDRWP against the CCAFS rawinsonde data as part of the long-term operational acceptance test

• Continue development of an automated lightning warning system using lightning data, electric field data and forecaster initialization

• Partner with the NWS Melbourne, FL, to develop a real-time triple-Doppler radar wind field 

display for operational analysis and model input

• Partner with other organizations to improve the locally tuned AMU WRF model

• Support launch operations for Atlas V, Delta IV and Falcon 9

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Other Specialized Services

Environmental Protection Agency

Air Quality Research

Meteorological support to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and 

Development and Office of Air and Radiation, EPA regional offices, and to State and local 

agencies includes the following activities:

• Conducting basic and applied research in air quality modeling

• Conducting field studies for air quality model development and air quality model evaluations

• Developing and applying multi-scale and multi-pollutant air quality models for pollution control, direct and indirect exposure assessments, and emission control strategy assessment

• Reviewing of meteorological aspects of environmental impact statements, state implementation plans, and pollution variance requests

• Providing Air Quality Index forecasts to state and local agencies for health advisory warnings

• Understanding the relationships between air quality and human health

• Understanding the atmospheric loading of pollutants to sensitive ecosystems

• Understanding the interactions of global climate change and air quality

• Emergency response planning in support of homeland security

Meteorological expertise and guidance are also provided for developing the national air quality 

standards, modeling guidelines, and policy development activities of the EPA. In light of the 

1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act and the recent national rules, air quality models and the 

manner in which they are used are expected to continue to grow over the next few years. In the 

area of pollutant deposition, the evaluation of nitrogen, oxidant, sulfur, and aerosol chemistries 

will help to clarify the roles of model formulation, cloud processes, aerosols, radiative transfer, 

and air/surface exchanges in air quality model predictions, leading to a better understanding of 

model predictions relative to control strategy assessments. Further development and evaluation 

of existing air quality models will take place to accommodate the inter-pollutant effects, resulting 

from the variety of control programs that are now or may be in place, such as the new National 

Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone and particulate pollution. These inter-pollutant effects 

include trade-offs among controls on ozone, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic 

compounds, as well as developing predictable methods of forecasting the impacts on various 

measures of air quality. 

With respect to the fine particulate model development, air quality models are being enhanced 

to accurately predict aerosol growth from precursors over local and regional-scale transport distances. As the concentration thresholds for the standards decrease, it will be important to understand intercontinental transport of pollution and how this would affect our ability to meet and 

maintain standards in the future. To assist in the evaluation of the contribution of various 

sources to regional air degradation, inert tracer and tagged species numerical models have 

been developed. These models will introduce separate calculations for inert or reactive chemical 

species emitted from a particular source or region. The calculations will proceed to simulate 

transport and transformation to a receptor point, where the contribution of emission sources can 

be discerned.

Atmospheric research, regarding the effects of climate change on regional air quality, involves 

both analytical and statistical climatology as well as linking global climate models with regional 

chemical transport models, and the development of coupled models to better simulate the inter2-211
Section 2. Federal Meteorological Services and Supporting Research Programs

actions between meteorology and atmospheric chemistry. Currently research is underway to 

test the efficacy of these models to accurately simulate the effects of aerosols on radiation.

Research in human exposure modeling includes both micro-environmental monitoring and 

modeling and the development of exposure assessment tools. This research entails linking air 

quality models to exposure models to understand the relationships between air quality and human health. Micro-environmental algorithms are being developed based on field data to predict 

air quality in buildings, attached garages, and street canyons. These improved algorithms are 

then incorporated into micro-environmental simulation models for conducting human exposure 

assessments within enclosed spaces in which specific human activities occur.

In addition to the above major areas, dispersion models for inert, reactive, and toxic pollutants 

are under development and evaluation on all temporal and spatial scales; i.e., indoor, urban, 

complex terrain, mesoscale, regional, and global. Other efforts include modeling nutrient deposition to the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf Coast, mercury deposition to the Florida Everglades, and 

the determination of meteorological effects on air quality. Atmospheric flow and dispersion experimental data obtained from wind tunnel and convection tank experiments in the EPA Fluid 

Modeling Facility will be used to continue development and evaluation of these models along 

with providing researchers with insight into the basic physical processes that affect pollutant 

dispersion around natural and man-made obstacles. For example, the transport and dispersion 

of airborne agents in the Manhattan, New York, and the Pentagon were simulated in the wind 

tunnel to help build confidence in the modeling assessment of the source-receptor relationships 

for horrific events such as the one that occurred on September 11, 2001. The impacts of roadway configuration, noise barriers, and vegetation on air quality near roadways are being assessed, and improvements are being made to the EPA’s AERMOD model to better simulate the 

transport and dispersion of pollutants from roadways and building downwash. 

Over the past 25 years, numerous air quality simulation models have been developed to estimate reductions in ambient air pollutant concentrations, resulting from potential emission control 

strategies. Separate models were developed, for example, for tropospheric ozone and photochemical smog, for acid deposition, and for fine particles. Distinct models also existed for addressing urban scale problems and the larger regional scale problems. It has been recognized, 

however, that the various pollutant regimes are closely linked chemically, spatially, and temporally in the atmosphere. The principal purpose of the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) 

modeling project was to develop a “one-atmosphere,” flexible environmental modeling tool that 

integrates the major atmospheric pollution regimes in a multi-scale, multi-pollutant modeling 

system. This system will enable high-level computational access to both scientific and air quality 

management users for socio-economic applications in community health assessments and ecosystem sustainability studies. 

The CMAQ model (first released in June 1998) is used by Federal and state agencies, industry, 

and academia and is updated periodically to reflect the state-of-science. The latest version of 

CMAQ, which includes science enhancements especially in the treatment of windblown dust, 

organic aerosols, and gas-phase photochemistry, is scheduled for release during the spring of 

2017. It is also intended to serve as a community framework for continual advancement and for 

use in conducting environmental assessments. To this end, EPA has established a Community 

Modeling and Analysis System at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 

to provide user support and training to modelers at the state agencies and universities. New 

versions of the CMAQ modeling system and associated documentation (Installation and Operations Manual, User Manual, Science Document, and tutorial) are publicly available. Additional 

information is available on the Laboratory website at http://www.epa.gov/nerl.

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Other Specialized Services

From FY 2005 to FY 2008, the EPA worked closely with the NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) in the continued development, evaluation, and use of a coupled 

meteorological-chemical transport model (WRF-CMAQ) for predicting ambient air quality over 

the continental United States. NWS implemented the CMAQ modeling system, to provide daily

forecast guidance for ozone nationwide on an operational basis and fine particulate matter forecast on an experimental basis. State and local air quality management agencies are responsible 

to forecast local air quality and provide health advisory warnings. 

The EPA, through participation in the interagency Information Technology Research and Development (IT R&D) Program, is developing a modeling framework that supports integration of diverse models (e.g., atmospheric, land surface, and watershed). The EPA’s IT R&D work also 

enables increased efficiency in air quality-meteorological modeling through research on parallel 

implementation of the CMAQ modeling system. The evolving research seeks to improve the environmental management community’s ability to evaluate the impact of air quality and watershed 

management practices, at multiple scales, on stream and estuarine conditions. The following 

primary objectives are directed toward this goal:

• Developing a prototype multiscale integrated modeling system with predictive meteorological capability for transport and fate of nutrients and chemical stressors

• Enabling the use of remotely sensed meteorological data

• Developing a computer-based problem-solving environment with ready access to data, 

models, and integrated visualization and analysis tools for water and air quality management, local and regional development planning, and exposure-risk assessments

A variety of research areas are being pursued such as the integration of hydrology and atmospheric models; coupling of meteorology and atmospheric chemistry calculations to account for 

the influence of radiatively active atmospheric pollutants on atmospheric dynamics and subsequent effects on air pollution; enhanced atmospheric dry deposition models; multi-scale and 

spatially explicit watershed modeling tools; and model-coupling technology for integrating media 

and scale-specific models. 

The EPA also maintains good working relationships with foreign countries to facilitate the exchange of research meteorologists and research results, pertaining to meteorological aspects of 

air pollution. For example, agreements are currently in place with Canada, the United Kingdom, 

Greece, Japan, Korea, China, India, and Mexico, and with several European countries.

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APPENDIX A: ACRONYMS

A-1 
Appendix A - Acronyms

3DWF 3D [three dimensional] Wind Field [model]

4DWX Four-Dimensional Weather System

AAWU Alaska Aviation Weather Unit

ABO Atmospheric Baseline Observatories

ABI GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager

ACC [USAF] Air Combat Command

ACCESS Advancing Collaborative Connections for Earth System Science

ACE Advance Composition Explorer

AD Active Duty

ADA Air Domain Awareness

ADAS AWOS Data Acquisition System

ADDS Aviation Digital Data Service

ADM-Aeolus [ESA] Atmospheric Dynamics Atmospheric Dynamics Mission Aeolus 

satellite

AFB Air Force Base

AFCENT Air Force Central Command

AFI Air Force Instruction

AFRC Air Force Reserve Command

AFRI Agriculture and Food Research Initiative

AFRL Air Force Research Laboratory

AFW Air Force Weather

AFWA Air Force Weather Agency

AFWEPS Air Force Weather Ensemble Prediction Suite

AFW-WEBS Air Force Weather Web Services

AgriMet [Bureau of Reclamation] Agricultural Weather 

AHPS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service

AIP Airport Improvement Program [FAA]

AIRMoN Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network

AMC U.S. Army Materiel Command

AMS American Meteorological Society; [FAA] Acquisition Management 

System; Autonomous Modular Sensor; Analysis and Modeling 

Subsystem

AMSR Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer

AMSR-E [Aqua satellite] Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-E

AMSU A Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit – A

AMU Applied Meteorology Unit

ANG Air National Guard

ANSP Air Navigation Service Provider

AO Announcement of Opportunity

AoA Analysis of Alternatives

AOC [NOAA] Aircraft Operations Center

AOML Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory

AOR Area of Responsibility

ARL [NOAA] Air Resources Laboratory

ARM Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility

ARS [USDA] Agricultural Research Service

ARTCC Air Route Traffic Control Center

ASCC Army Service Component Commands

ASNE MSEA [DOD] Air and Space Natural Environment Modeling and Simulation 

Executive Agent

ASOS Automated Surface Observing System

ASR Atmospheric System Research [activity in DOE/CESD]; Airport 

Surveillance Radar

ASR-11 Airport Surveillance Radar Model 11

ASR-9 Airport Surveillance Radar Model 9

A-2
Appendix A - Acronyms

ASWON Automated Surface Weather Observation Network

ATCSCC Air Traffic Control System Command Center

ATD atmospheric transport and dispersion

ATDD Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division [NOAA]

ATEC U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command

ATLAS Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System

ATM Air Traffic Management

ATO Air Traffic Organization [FAA]

ATOP Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures

ATOS Applications, Transactions, and Observations Subsystem

AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

AWC [NOAA/NECEP] Aviation Weather Center

AWG Aviation Weather Group [FAA]

AWIPS Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System

AWOS Automated Weather Observing System

AWOS III-P/T Automated Weather Observing System [variant of AWOS]

AW-PO Army Weather Proponent Office

AWRP Aviation Weather Research Program [FAA]

AWRT Advanced Weather Radar Technique

AWSD Aviation Weather Services Directorate

AWSS Automated Weather Sensors Systems

BASC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

BCTP Battle Command Training Program

BIA Bureau of Indian Affairs

BLM Bureau of Land Management

BOEM [DOI] Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

BonD Battlespace on Demand

C4I and Space Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence and 

Space

CAC [U.S. Army] Combined Arms Center

CAgM [WMO] Commission for Agricultural Meteorology

CALIPSO Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations

CAP Civil Air Patrol; Common Alerting Protocol

CASR Committee for Aviation Services and Research

CBRNE chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive

CCAFS Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

CCMC Community Coordinated Modeling Center

CCOG [NOAA] Center for Coasts, Oceans, and Geophysics

CCSP U.S. Climate Change Science Program

CDD [NOAA]Coastal Data Development

CDMP Climate Database Modernization Program

CDR climate data record

CEDAR Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions

CEISC Committee on Environmental Information Systems and Communications

CENR [NSTC] Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

CENRS[NSTC] Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability

CERIS Coastal, Estuary Resource Information System

CESD Climate and Environmental Sciences Division [DOE Office of Science]

CESM Community Earth System Model

CFC chlorofluorocarbon

CFSR Climate Forecast System Reanalysis

CHARM Coupled Hydrosphere-Atmosphere Research Model

CHPS Community Hydrologic Prediction System

CI [NOAA]Cooperative Institute

A-3
Appendix A - Acronyms

CI-FLOW Coastal-Inland Flood Observation and Warning

CICE DOE/OS/CESD sea ice model

CICS Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites

CICS-NC Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites North Carolina

CIOS Committee for Integrated Observing Systems

CIP Current Icing Product

CISM Community Ice Sheet Model (DOE/OS/CESD)

CJMTK Commercial Joint Mapping Tool Kit

CLASS Comprehensive Large-Array data Stewardship System

CLIVAR Climate Variability and Predictability Experiment

CMAQ Community Multi-scale Air Quality

CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert System

CMD-P Computer Meteorological Data-Profiler

CME coronal mass ejection(s)

CMIP5 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5

CMS Carbon Monitoring System

CNES Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales

CNMOC Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command

CNO Chief of Naval Operations

CPCE Command Post Computing Environment

COAMPS Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System

COAS North American Carbon Observation and Analysis System

COASTAL Coastal Oceanographic Applications and Services for Tides and Lakes

COASTAL Act [2012] Consumer Option for an Alternative System to Allocate Losses

CoCoRaHS Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow [network]

COE Corps of Engineers

COLA Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies

COMNAVMETOCCOM Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command

CONPLAN Concept of Operations Plan

COOP Cooperative Observer Program

CO-OPS Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services

COPC Committee for Operational Processing Centers

CORMS Continuous Operational Real-time Monitoring System

COSIM Climate, Ocean and Sea Ice Modeling Project

COSMIC-2 Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and 

Climate-2

CPC Climate Prediction Center

CPP Command Post Platform

CSD [NOAA/NWS] Climate Services Division

CSED [DOE] Climate and Environmental Services Division

CSESMO Committee for Space Environmental Sensor Mitigation Options

CVA Ceiling and Visibility, Analysis [FAA/AWRP]

CVF Ceiling and Visibility, Forecast [FAA/AWRP]

CWDP Commerical Weather Data Pilot

CWSU Center Weather Service Unit

DAC [AOML] Data Assembly Center; Department of the Army Civilian

DAPE Data Acquisition, Processing, and Exchange

DART Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis

DASI Digital Altimeter Setting Indicator

DATM Defense Information Switched Network Asynchronous Transfer Mode 

System

DCGS-A Distributed Common Ground System-Army

DEM digital elevation model

DHS U.S. Department of Homeland Security

DMCC DOE Meteorological Coordinating Council

A-4
Appendix A - Acronyms

DMSP Defense Meteorological Satellite Program

DNF Defense Nuclear Facilities

DOC U.S. Department of Commerce

DOD U.S. Department of Defense

DOE U.S. Department of Energy

DOI U.S. Department of the Interior

DOMSAT domestic communication satellite

DOS U.S. Department of State

DOT U.S. Department of Transportation

DOTMLPF doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, education, 

personnel, and facilities

DPG Dugway Proving Ground

DSCOVR Deep Space Climate Observatory

DSD [NOAA] Data Stewardship Division

DTC Developmental Test Center; [U.S. Army] Developmental Test Command

DTRA Defense Threat Reduction Agency

DTSS Digital Topographic Support System

DWL Doppler wind lidar

EAS Emergency Alert System

ECMT Enterprise Configuration Management Tool

EcoFOCI Ecosystem-Fisheries Oceanography Coordinated Investigations

ECV Essential Climate Variables

EdIWG [CCSP] Education Interagency Working Group

EERE [DOE] Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

ELV Expendable Launch Vehicle(s)

EM electromagnetic

EMC [NOAA/NCEP] Environmental Modeling Center

EMI SIG Emergency Management Issues Special Interest Group

EMSL Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

EMW Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare

ENSO El Nino-Southern Oscillation

EOSDIS Earth Observing System Data and Information System

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

EPI Enhanced Precipitation Identification

ERAM En Route Automation Modernization

ERC [hurricane] eyewall replacement cycles

ERDC [USACE] Engineer Research and Development Center

EROS [USGS] Earth Resources Observation and Science [center]

ESA European Space Agency

ESM [DOE/OS/CESD] Earth System Models

ESPC Earth System Prediction Capability

ESRL Earth System Research Laboratory

ESS Environmental Sensor Station(s)

ESTO [NASA] Earth Science Technology Office

ET evapotranspiration

EUMETSAT European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

FA [BLM] Fire and Aviation Directorate

FAA Federal Aviation Administration

FAR false alarm rate

FCAMMS Fire Consortia for Advanced Modeling of Meteorology and Smoke

FCMSSR Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting 

Research

FEC Fire Executive Council

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

A-5
Appendix A - Acronyms

FFMP Flash Flood Monitoring and Prediction

FHWA Federal Highway Administration

FIP Forecast Icing Product

FMF Fleet Marine Force

FNMOC Navy Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center

FOR Flight Operations Review

FPAW Friends/Partners in Aviation Weather

FRA Federal Railroad Administration

FRD [NOAA/ARL] Field Research Division

FSR Forest Service Research

FTE full-time equivalent

FWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

FY fiscal year

GACC Geographic Area Coordinating Center

GBS Global Broadcast Service

GCOS Global Climate Observing System

GEM Geospace Environment Modeling

GEO Group on Earth Observations

GEOSS Global Earth Observation System of Systems

GFDL Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory [NOAA-associated]

GFDN Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Navy [model]

GHCN-M Global Historical Climatology Network-Monthly

GIS geographic information system

GLD Global Lagrangian Drifters

GLERL Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

GLOBE Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment

GMD [NOAA/OAR/ESRL] Global Monitoring Division

GODAE Global Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment

GOES Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite

GOES-R Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R

GOOS Global Ocean Observing System

GOSIC Global Observing Systems Information Center

GPM Global Precipitation Measurement Mission

GPS Global Positioning System

GPS-Met GPS-Meteorology

GRA GOOS Regional Alliances

GRIP Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes [NASA project]

GSD [ESRL] Global Systems Division

GTGN Graphical Turbulence Guidance Nowcast

GTOS Global Terrestrial Observing System

GTS Global Telecommunications System

HALE high altitude, long-endurance [UAS]

HAZUS Multi-Hazard Loss Estimation Methodology

HCFC hydrochlorofluorocarbon

HEL high-energy laser

HELSTF High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility

HEOMD Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD)

HF high frequency

HFIP Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project

HFPP HRD Field Program Plan

HHWWS Heat Health Watch Warning Systems

HIWPP High Impact Weather Prediction Project

HMR [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] hydrometeorological report(s)

HMT Hydrometeorological Testbed

A-6
Appendix A - Acronyms

HPC High Performance Computing

HPC [NPAA/NCEP] Hydrometeorological Prediction Center

HPCMP [DOD] High Performance Computing Modernization Program

HQDA Headquarters, Department of the Army

HRD [NOAA/OMAO] Hurricane Research Division

HRRR High Resolution Rapid Refresh

HSPD Homeland Security Presidential Directive

HS3 [NASA] Hurricane Severe Storm Sentinel

HWRF Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting

HYPOP Hybrid Coordinate Parallel Ocean Program [DOE model]

HYSPLIT Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory [ATD model]

IBTrACS International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship

ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization

ICESCAPE Impacts of Climate on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific 

Environment

ICMSSR Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting 

Research

ICOADS International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set

IDSS Impact-Based Decision Support Services

IFEX Intensity Forecast Experiment

IFOR Information Warfare Type Command

IHC Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

IIP International Ice Patrol

IMAAC Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center

IMET Incident Meteorologist

IMETS Integrated Meteorological System

IMPROVE Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments [program]

INL Idaho National Laboratory

INSITE Integrated Support for Impacted Air Traffic Environments

IPAWS Integrated Public Alert and Warning System

IPB intelligence preparation of the battlespace

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IPE intelligence preparation of the environment

IRTSS Infrared Target Scene Simulator

ISCS International Satellite Communications System

ISES International Space Environment Service

ISMS [DOE] Integrated Safety Management System

ISR intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance

ISS International Space Station

IT information technology

IT R&D Information Technology Research and Development [Program]

ITS Intelligent Transportation Systems

ITWS Integrated Terminal Weather System

IWEDA Integrated Weather Decision Aid

IWGCCST Interagency Working Group on Climate Change Science and Technology

IWP Integrated Water Prediction

IWRSS Integrated Water Resources Science and Services

JAG Joint Action Group

JAG/ADM Joint Action Group on Architecture and Data Management 

JAG/CAPSA Joint Action Group for COASTAL Act Post-Storm Analysis

JAG/CCM Joint Action Group for Centralized Communications Management

JAG/JUTB Joint Action Group for Joint Urban Test Beds

JAG/MD Joint Action Group on Metadata

JAG/OCM Joint Action Group for Operational Community Modeling 

A-7
Appendix A - Acronyms

JAG/ODAA Joint Action Group for Operational Data Acquisition for Assimilation

JAWF Joint Agricultural Weather Facility

JAWS Juneau Airport Wind System

JCIDS Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System

JCSDA Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation

JHT Joint Hurricane Testbed

JPDO Joint Planning and Development Office

JPSS Joint Polar Satellite System

JSC [NASA] Johnson Space Center

JTTI Joint Technology Transfer Initiative

JTWC Joint Typhoon Warning Center

KDP Key Decision Point

KSC [NASA] Kennedy Space Center

KSCWO SOMD Weather Office at NASA Kennedy Space Center

LAN local area network

LAP Lightning Advisory Panel

LBS Littoral Battlespace Sensing

LDCM Landsat Data Continuity Mission

LIDAR light detection and ranging 

LLCC lightning launch commit criteria

LLWAS Low Level Wind shear Alerting System

LLWAS-NE LLWAS Network Expansion

LRGS [USGS] local readout ground station(s)

M&O management and operating

MACPEX Mid-latitude Airborne Cirrus Properties Experiment

MADA Monsoon Area Drought Atlas

MADIS Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System 

MAGTF Marine Air Ground Task Force

MALE medium altitude, long endurance [UAS]

MASPS Minimum Aviation Safety Performance Standards

MAW Marine Aircraft Wing

MEF Marine Expeditionary Force 

MET meteorological; Meteorology and Oceanography

MetMF(R) Meteorological Mobile Facility-Replacement

METOC meteorological and oceanographic

METOP Meteorological Operational Polar

METSAT meteorological satellite

MM5 Mesoscale Model Version 5

MMS-P Meteorological Measurement Set-Profiler

MOC [NextGen] Mid-term Operational Capability

MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

MOPS Minimum Operations Standards

MOU memorandum of understanding

MPAR multifunction phased array radar

MPCV Multipurpose Crew Vehicle

MRMS [FAA/AWRP] Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor [capability]

MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center

MST METOC Support Team

MTOE Modified Table of Organization and Equipment

MTSAT [Japanese] Multifunctional Transport Satellite

MWPI Microburst Windspeed Potential Index

MWSG Marine Wing Support Group

MWSS Marine Wing Support Squadron

A-8
Appendix A - Acronyms

NAAMES North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems

NADM North American Drought Monitor

NADP National Atmospheric Deposition Program

NAO NOAA Administrative Order; North Atlantic Oscillation

NAPA National Academy of Public Administration

NAS National Airspace System

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASS National Agricultural Statistics Service

NAVOCEANO Naval Oceanographic Office

NAVOCEANOPSCOM Naval Oceanography Operations Command

NBC nuclear, biological, and chemical

NCA National Climate Assessment

NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research

NCDC National Climatic Data Center

NCEI [NOAA]National Centers for Environmental Inforamation

NCEP National Centers for Environmental Prediction

NCO NCEP Central Operations

NCOM Navy Coastal Ocean Model

NCV National Ceiling and Visibility [FAA/AWRP Product Team]

NCWCP NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction

NDBC National Data Buoy Center

NDFD National Digital Forecast Database

NDMC National Drought Mitigation Center

NEB Natural Environments Branch [MSFC]

NEMS NOAA Environmental Modeling System

NESDIS [NOAA] National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service

NEXION NEXt-generation IONosonde

NEXRAD Next-Generation Weather Radar

NextGen Next Generation Air Transportation System

NFDRS National Fire Danger Rating System

NFIP National Flood Insurance Program

NGA National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

NGDC National Geophysical Date Center

NGEE Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments

NGGPS Next Generation Global Prediction System

NHC [NCEP] National Hurricane Center

NICC National Interagency Coordination Center

NIDIS National Integrated Drought Information System

NIFA National Institute for Food and Agriculture

NIFC National Interagency Fire Center

NITES Navy Integrated Tactical Environmental System

NNEW NextGen Network Enabled Weathe

NNSA National Nuclear Security Administration

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NOCMP National Operational Coastal Modeling Program

NODC National Oceanographic Data Center

NOGAPS Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System

NOHRSC National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center

NOMADS National Operational Model Archive and Distribution System

NOP Naval Oceanography Program

NOPC National Operational Processing Centers Program Council

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command

NOS National Ocean Service

NOWCON Network of Weather and Climate Observing Networks

A-9
Appendix A - Acronyms

NPDIA National Plan for Disaster Impact Assessments: Weather and Water 

Data

NPOESS National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System

NPP NPOESS Preparatory Project 

NPRB North Pacific Research Board

NPS National Park Service

NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission; National Research Council

NRC/NLSC [DoD] National Reconditioning Center and National Logistics Support 

Center

NRCC [FEMA] National Response Coordination Center

NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service

NRL Naval Research Laboratory

NRL/MRY Marine Meteorology Division of the Naval Research Laboratory [NRL 

Monterey]

NTWC National Tsunami Warning Center

NSF National Science Foundation

NSIP National Streamflow Information Program

NSIR Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response

NSPD National Security Presidential Directive

NSSL [NOAA] National Severe Storm Laboratory

NSWP National Space Weather Program

NSWRC NextGen Surveillance and Weather Radar Capability

NTAS Northwest Tropical Atlantic Station

NTHMP National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program

NUOPC National Unified Operational Prediction Capability

NWC National Weather Center

NWCG National Wildfire Coordinating Group

NWIS National Water Information System

NWLON National Water Level Observation Network

NWM Numerical Weather Modeling

NWP numerical weather prediction

NWR NOAA Weather Radio

NWRT National Weather Radar Testbed

NWS [NOAA] National Weather Service

NWSTG NWS Telecommunications Gateway

OAR [NOAA] Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

OCE (USDA) Office of the Chief Economist

OCIO [NOAA] Office of Chief Information Officer

ODCS [U.S. Army] Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff

OEP Operational Evolution Partnership [FAA airport designation]

OFA [BLM] Office of Fire and Aviation

OFCM Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and 

Supporting Research

OGC Open Geospatial Consortium

OMAO [NOAA] Office of Marine and Aviation Operations

OMB Office of Management and Budget

ONR Office of Naval Research

OPC Ocean Prediction Center

OSPO [NOAA] Office of Satellite Product Operations

OSSE observing system simulation experiment

OSTEP Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Program

OSTM Ocean Surface Topography Mission

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy

OTN [Defense Information Systems Agency] Optical Transport Network

OTSR Optimum Track Ship Routing

A-10
Appendix A - Acronyms

OWAQ Office of Air and Water Quality

OWS [USAF] Operational Weather Squadron

P3I Pre-Planned Product Improvement

PACAF Pacific Air Forces

PARISE Phased Array Radar Innovative Sensing Experiment

PCMDI Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison

PFO Polar Follow On

PFHA probabilistic flood hazard assessment

PLAN Personal Localized Alert Network

PMEL Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory

PMM [NASA] Precipitation Measurement Missions

PMP probable maximum precipitation

PNE PIRATA Northeast Extension [project]

PNT Positioning, navigation, and timing

POD probability of detection

POES Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite

POP Parallel Ocean Program [DOE/OS/CESD model]

POPS Primary Oceanographic Prediction System

PORTS® Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System

PPA Projects, Planning and Analysis

PREDICT Pre-Depression Investigation of Cloud-systems in the Tropics

PRISM Parameter-Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model

PSD [ESRL] Physical Sciences Division

PTWC Pacific Tsunami Warning Center

PVM Profiler Virtual Module

QPE quantitative precipitation estimation(s)

QPF quantitative precipitation forecast

R&D research and development

R2O Research to Operations

RAP Rapid Refresh

RASCAL Radiological Assessment System for Consequence Analysis

RAWS Remote Automated Weather Stations (network)

RBSP Ring Current, Radiation Belts, Solar Particles [satellite]

RDT&E research development, test, and evaluation

READY Real-time Environmental Applications and Display sYstem

RES Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research

RFC [NWS] River Forecast Center

RGCM Regional and Global Climate Modeling [in DOE/OS/CESD]

RIMS Radio Interference Measuring Set

RMA Risk Management Agency

ROC radar operations center

ROMANS Rocky Mountain Atmospheric Nitrogen and Sulfur

ROSES [NASA] Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences

RPA Remotely Piloted Aircraft

RSMC Regional Specialized Meteorological Center 

RSTN Radio Solar Telescope Network

RTC Redstone Test Center

RTS Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site

RTVS Real-Time Verification System

RUC Rapid Update Cycle [NWS forecast model]

RVR Runway Visual Range

RWI Reduce Weather Impact

RWMP Road Weather Management Program

A-11
Appendix A - Acronyms

SAFETEA-LU Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A 

Legacy for Users

SAR synthetic aperture radar

SAS [NextGen] Single Authoritative Source

SAWS Stand Alone Weather Sensors [FAA]

SCAN Soil Climate Analysis Network

SCAP Security Certification and Accreditation Package

SCAPA Subcommittee for Consequence Assessment and Protective Actions

SDAA [USDA] Strategic Data Acquisition and Analyses

SDO Solar Dynamics Observatory

SDR [CENRS] Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction

SEBN Surface Energy Budget Network

SEES Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability

SEM Space Environment Monitor

SEON Solar Electro-optical Observing Network

SERVIR Sistema Regional de Visualizacion y Monitoreo [NASA network]

SESAR Single European Sky ATM Research

SFMR stepped frequency microwave radiometer

SGOT Strike Group Oceanography Team

SGS Satellite Ground Services

SHINE Solar, Heliospheric, and Interplanetary Environment

SICPS Standard Integrated Command Post Shelter

SIP Societal Impacts Program

SIR System Integration Review

SLEP Service Life Extension Program

SLOSH Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes [storm surge model]

SMAP [NASA] Soil Moisture Active-Passive [Satellite Mission]

SMD [NASA] Science Mission Directorate

SMDC [U.S. Army] Space and Missile Defense Command

SMG [NWS] Spaceflight Meteorology Group

SNOTEL SNOw pack TELemetry

S-NPP Suomi National Polar Partnership satellite

SOF Special Operations Forces

SOHO Solar and Heliospheric Observatory

SOMD [NASA] Space Operations Mission Directorate

SOON Solar Observing Optical Network

SOOP Ship of Opportunity Program

SORD [NOAA/ARL] Special Operations and Research Division

SOS Science On a Sphere®

SPAWAR [US Navy] Space and Warfare Systems Command

SPC [NCEP] Storm Prediction Center 

SPoRT [NASA] Short-term Prediction Research and Transition center

SRS Solar Radio Spectrograph

SST sea surface temperature

SSWSF Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Program

STAR Center for Satellite Applications and Research

STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

STEREO Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory

STIWG Satellite Telemetry Interagency Working Group

STO Stience and Technology Objectives

SWA [BLM] Soil, Water, and Air

SWAFS Space Weather Analysis and Forecast System

SWEF Space Weather Enterprise Forum

SWIM [NextGen] System Wide Information Management

SWPC Space Weather Prediction Center

A-12
Appendix A - Acronyms

SWSI State Surface Water Supply Index(es)

TAF Terminal Aerodrome Forecast

TAO Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean [Project]

TAO/TRITON Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean/TRIangle Trans-Ocean buoy Network

TAWS Target Acquisition Weapons Software

TDA Tactical Decision Aid

TDWR Terminal Doppler Weather Radar

TFCC Task Force Climate Change

T-IWEDA Tri-Service Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid

TMC traffic management center

TOC Tactical Operations Center

TOE Table of Organization and Equipment

TOLNet Tropospheric Ozone Lidar Network

TRADOC U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command

TRMM Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

TSG thermosalinograph

TSO Technical Standard Order [FAA]

UAS unmanned aircraft systems; unmanned aerial systems

UCAR University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

UHF ultrahigh frequency

UM Unified Model

UNEP United Nations Environment Program

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

UNOLS University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System

UNSWC Unified National Space Weather Capability

URI University of Rhode Island

USA U.S. Army

USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

USAF U.S. Air Force

USAICoE U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence

USARNORTH U. S. Army North

USASMDC U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command

USCG U.S. Coast Guard

USCRN U.S. Climate Reference Network

USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture

USDM U.S. Drought Monitor

USFF U.S. Fleet Forces Command

USFS U.S. Forest Service

USGCRP U.S. Global Change Research Program

USGS U.S. Geological Survey

USHCN U.S. Historical Climatology Network

USNO U.S. Naval Observatory

USNORTHCOM U.S. Northern Command

USWRP U.S. Weather Research Program

UV ultraviolet

VAAC Volcanic Ash Advisory Center

VAFB Vandenberg Air Force Base

VFR visual flight rules

VORTEX2 Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment 2

VOS Volunteer Observing System

W&ACR Weather and Air Chemistry Research

WAFS World Area Forecast System

A-13
Appendix A - Acronyms

WAMIS World AgroMeteorological Information Service

WAOB World Agricultural Outlook Board

WARP Weather And Radar Processor [FAA]

WASDE World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates [report]

WC/ATWC West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center

WDA [USAF] Weather Data Analysis

WEBB Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets

WFDSS Wildland Fire Decision Support System

WFIP Wind Forecast Improvement Project

WFIP 2 Wind Forecasting Improvement Project in Complex Terrain

WFO National Weather Service Forecast Office

WG/CSAB Working Group for Cooperative Support and Backup

WG/DIAP Working Group for Disaster Impact Assessments and Plans: Weather 

and Water Data

WG/OD Working Group for Observational Data

WG/TBC Working Group for Test Bed Coordination

WG/UM Working Group for Urban Meteorology

WG/VA Working Group on Volcanic Ash

WG/WIST Working Group on Weather Information for Surface Transportation

WGA Western Governors’ Association

WHDE Wind Hazard Detection Equipment

WIFS WAFS Internet File Service

WIMS weather information management system

WIS WMO Information Service

WMO World Meteorological Organization

WoF Warn on Forecast [Program]

WP Work Product

WPC Weather Prediction Center

WRAP Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership

WRD [USGS] Water Resources Discipline

WRE-N Weather Running Estimate-Nowcasts

WRF Weather Research and Forecasting

WRN Weather-Ready Nation

WRTM Weather-Responsive Traffic Management

WS [USAF] Weather Squadron

WSDS Wind Shear Detection Services

WS-LVC Weather Services – Live, Virtual, Constructive

WSP [FAA] Weather Systems Processor

WSR-88D Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler

WTIC Weather Technology in the Cockpit

WUI Wildland-Urban Interface

WW3 Wave Watch III [model]

WWCB Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin

WWLLN World Wide Lightning Locator Network

WXG [USAF] Weather Group

XBT Expendable BathyThermograph [Program]

A-14
Agency Points of Contact

U.S. Department of Agriculture Mr. Mark Brusberg

Dr. Harlan Shannon

Department of Commerce

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Mr. Christopher Botnick 

National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service Ms. Kelly Turner

Ms. Lauren Jones

National Ocean Service Mr. Darren Wright

Mr. Jason Shadid

National Weather Service Mr. Patrick Nield 

Ms. Sasha Pryborowski

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Mr. Richard Fulton

Ms. Melissa Pratt-Zossoungbo

Office of Marine and Aviation Operations Ms. Linda Mallinoff

Ms. Patricia Baxter

Department of Defense Lt Col Daniel Weekley

Ms. Marsha Korose 

U.S. Air Force Col Fred Williams

U.S. Navy Mr. Philip Vinson 

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Jeff Wooldridge

U.S. Army Mr. William Spendley

Department of Energy Mr. Rick Petty

Mr. Jose Maisonet

Mr. Vaughn Standley

Mr. Joel Cline

Department of Homeland Security

Federal Emergency Management Agency Mr. Daniel Porter (NOAA Liaison)

U.S. Coast Guard Dr. Jonathan Berkson

Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey Mr. Robert Mason

Ms. Carol Finn

National Park Service Mr. John Vimont 

Bureau of Land Management

• Office of Fire and Aviation Mr. Grant Beebe

• Office of Soil Water and Air Mr. McKinley Ben Miller

Department of State Dr. David Reidmiller

Department of Transportation

Federal Aviation Administration Mr. Richard Lee

Federal Highway Administration Mr. Paul Pisano 

Federal Railroad Administration Mr. Jared Withers

Environmental Protection Agency Dr. Rohit Mathur

Mr. Thomas Pierce

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dr. Tsengdar Lee

Ms. Elizabeth Yoseph

National Science Foundation Mr. Nicholas Anderson 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Ms. Amy Sharp

Smithsonian Institution Dr. Benjamin Andrews